The Development of Radio Broadcasting in Nigeria

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF RADIO BROADCASTING

IN NIGERIA, WEST AFRICA

THESIS

Presented to the Graduate Council of the

North Texas State University in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Jonathan Adegoke Adejunmobi, B.A. 11 Denton, Texas December, 1974 Adejunmobi, Jonathan A., The Development of Radio Broad- casting in Nigeria, West Africa. Master of Arts (Speech

Communication and Drama), December, 1974, 108 pp., 2 tables, bibliography, 70 titles. The purpose of this study is to set forth the history of radio in Nigeria. Chapters explore the history of Nigeria, the history of Nigerian radio, and the present structure of Nigerian radio. In a final chapter, specific historical factors are isolated that have made Nigerian radio what it is today.

The study concludes that the present structure of Nigerian radio is a direct product of the peculiar history of Nigeria as a former British Colony. Little can be done to solve the problems of Nigerian radio unless the problems of Nigeria itself are first solved. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page LIST OF TABLES ......

Chapter

I. INTRODUCTION...... 1

Background The Problem Purpose Procedure and Related Studies Definition of Terms Format

II. A BRIEF HISTORY OF NIGERIA...... 13

Geography and People of Nigeria Colonial Nigeria: Amalgamation Antagonism and the Rise of Nigerian Political Parties Three Constitutions and the Path to Independence Independent Nigeria

III. ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF BROADCASTING IN NIGERIA. .40

Prebroadcasting Electronic Media Nigerian Broadcasting Service Crisis and Change Regional Broadcasting Systems Summary

IV. STRUCTURE OF BORADCASTING IN NIGERIA...... 62

Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation The Regional/State System

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...... 87

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 103

iii LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I. A Typical Broadcast Day of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, Friday, January 16, 1970 0...... 71 II. A Typical Broadcast Day of Western Regional Government Broadcasting Corporation, Friday, January 16, 1970 ...... 80

iv CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background

A former Governor General of the Belgium Congo once speculated that many African nations would not have been created without the intervention of European countries as colonial masters.1 The British Colonial era in Nigeria

(1900-1960) seems to confirm that speculation. The Royal

Institute of International Affairs (R.I.I.A.) succinctly stated the relationship between British Colonial activities and the existence of Nigeria: "Nigeria is a British creation; before 1900 there was no such entity; attracted inland by humanitarian reasons, the early explorers found much of the country a chaos of warring tribes.??2

Just as Britain created the nation of Nigeria, it also laid the foundations for one of Nigeria's most important institutions, its system of radio broadcasting. Without Bri- tain, Nigeria would probably not have the broadcasting system that it has today.

The history of Nigeria cannot be separated from that of its system of communications. Britain colonized Nigeria for three reasons: economic, political, and humanitarian. As to the first reason, economic, Britain wanted to begin trade with

1 2

Nigeria. Lord Austen Chamberlain, British Foreign Secretary

(1924-1929), believed that the beginning of communication in African colonies was an essential Imperial responsibility.

Chamberlain further believed communication could be the means of unlocking rich African regions that could benefit humanity as a whole, but that were misued by the "backward" African natives.3

The second reason for colonization was political. Bri- tain wanted to protect its Nigerian holdings from invasion by other European countries. A. P. Thornton, professor of history at University College of the West Indies, wrote that many reasons determined the actions of all imperial nations, but the most important of these was "power." 4

Finally, the eagerness of Britain to civilize Nigeria helped to lay the foundation of Nigerian broadcasting. Bri- tain provided Nigeria with its first telegraph lines in 1895 to facilitate the construction of the railway between Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, and Abeokuta, another city in Ni- geria.5

Building on both the telecommunication facilities provided by Britain and the broadcasting system that Britain later helped to build, Nigeria has emerged today as a developing nation., with a broadcasting corporation staffed wholly by natives. Thus, Nigeria owes its present system of broadcasting, as well as its very existence, to the intervention of the British. 3

The Problem

There have been very few studies done in the field of broadcasting in Africa. Prior to the present study, there has been no study of Nigerian radio broadcasting. Leonard

Doob, a psychologist interested in international communication, noted, "Materials on communication in Africa are lamentably scarce, for not until recently has the rubric become sufficiently fashionable to encourage research and report."?6 Yet, it is in these very African countries where broadcasting research is needed. They are striving to over- come tribal differences and to achieve a sense of national unity. Essential to the achievement of such unity is a modern national system of communication. And radio broadcasting is a keystone in any developing country's communication system. Wilbur Schramm and G. F. Winfield wrote,

If a nation, rather than an advanced society, is to be built, then the necessary knowledge of public affairs, the concept of national loyalty, and empathy for fellow citizens must be communicated. Furthermore, if a nation is to play a significant part internationally, communication must weave the new state to other states, and the necessary understanding of international events and relationships must be communicated to the people. Thus, it is clear that national development involves serious and significant communication problems.7

T. W. Chalmers, an Englishman and first Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS), wanted to fashion the NBS after the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).8

And indeed the NBS, later renamed the Nigerian Broadcasting

Corporation (NBC), was originally set up as a single national service, and as a means of resolving vast ethnic and tribal differences in Nigeria. Contrary to Chalmers' expectations, however, eight years after the NBS was set up, it was partiw tioned into three additional regional services, each serving different tribal and ethnic cultures that are contained in each of the three regions.

The problem, then, consists of a series of questions concerning the structure of Nigerian radio broadcasting. What were the reasons the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation devi- ated from the pattern of the BBC? Why did the development of the broadcasting system in Nigeria become suddenly a regional and, hence, and ethnic affair, instead of a federal, national institution of unity? How did the partitioning of the broadcasting service begin? And why were the regions able to succeed in effecting the partition? In order to answer these questions, the history of Nigerian broadcasting will have to be examined. Additionally, because the nation of Nigeria played a large part in the structure of its broadcasting service, the colonial and the postcolonial histories of Nigeria will also be examined. Only in this way can the social, political, economic, and cultural factors that influenced the development and structure of Nigerian radio broadcasting be brought forth. 5

Purpose

The purpose of this study is three-fold. First, the

study explores the history of Nigerian telecommunications, paying particular attention to the history of Nigerian broad-

casting. Second, the study describes the structure and

nature of the Nigerian radio broadcasting. Third, the

study isolates and explores the factors that contributed to

the present structure of Nigerian radio broadcasting.

Procedure and Related Studies

The procedure for this study took the form of historical

research. Primary sources, accumulated with the cooperation

of personnel in the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, were

utilized for the majority of the study. Secondary materials

were used for background to put facts into perspective.

Little research has been published on broadcasting in

Africa. The present study is apparently the first compre-

hensive documented history of radio in Nigeria. Leonard Doob wrote in Communications in Africa, "One must be grateful for

the smallest bits of information." 9 The only research found

to have even remote bearing on the proposed study is that of

Geoffrey Zednek Kucera whose 1968 dissertation was titled

Broadcasting in Africa: Study of Belgium, British and French

Policies.1 0 The study explored in depth the policies of the

three colonial powers in the continent of Africa. Nigeria

and other African countries were used as examples of the 6

British colonial policy of monopoly. Kucera paid particular

attention to the colonial policies in the Belgium Congo.

Another dissertation on African broadcasting was completed in 1968 by Peter Orlik, who later updated his work to

early 1970. It is titled,.The South African Broadcasting

Corporation: An Historical Survey and Contemporary Analysis.1 1

The study pointed out the need of South Africa to inaugurate a television broadcasting service. It provided insights not only into the political climate of South Africa but, more importantly, into the way in which television is perceived as a vehicle for political change. Orlik's study does not duplicate or relate to the present study, but it is significant because it is one of the few research studies that has been done in the field of broadcasting in Africa.

Apart from the two research studies mentioned above, three other reports are found to be of significance to the present study. First, Ian K. Mackay, the last foreign Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Coporation, analyzed in European

Broadcasting Union Review1 2 the "Concepts of Nigerian Broad- casting." The five-paged article described briefly the functions of the NBC in the Nigerian community. Mackay,

Director General at the time the article was published in 1963, described the origin, the pattern and trend, and the future aspirations of the NBC. The second study was written by Adekunle Salu, a native Nigerian, and was published in 7

European Broadcasting Union Review.1 3 Salu described radio

broadcasting as "the great mass medium" in Nigeria. In one

page, Salu attempted to describe the beginning of wired-

wireless radio, its development into the NBC, and its effects

on the people of Nigeria. Finally, in the "international"

column of Broadcasting, a brief article described how radio

and television in Nigeria began advertising practices. The

article reported that broadcast advertising will be modeled along the lines of British Independent Television.14

Definition of Terms

To facilitate understanding of this study, certain terms are defined:

1. British Colonials or (more often) British: the

English-born person living in Nigeria who, during the colonial period, held the decision-making positions in the economic, political, and social institutions of Nigeria.

2. Broadcasting: the transmission of radio waves to a collective receiving entity or audience.

3. Franchise: an exclusive license to operate.

4. Native elites: persons of native Nigerian origin who rose to positions of leadership in the Nigerian economic, political, and intellectual communities. Often these people had college degrees, many of which were from European or American universities. 8

5. Nigerians or native Nigerians: persons born in

Nigeria whose ancestors had also been born in Nigeria.

6. Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation and NBC: the

successor to NBS, NBC is the radio broadcasting organization that began in 1957 and is presently in existence in Nigeria.

7. Nigerian Broadcasting Service and NBS: a broadcasting system that began in 1951 and ceased in 1957. 8. Nigerianization: a process whereby operational and administrative duties involved in the running of colonial institutions are gradually turned over by British Colonials to Nigerians.

9. Postcolonial. period: the period beginning with the Independence of Nigeria on October 1, 1960, to the present.

10. Precolonial period: the period before the colonization of Nigeria, specifically, before 1900 A.D.

11. Radio: a general term denoting radio wave transmission and reception, exclusive of facsimile, television, radar, and other specialized systems employing radio princi- ples but commonly known by other terms.

12. Radio waves: a combination of electric magnetic fields varying at a radio frequency and capable of traveling through space at the speed of light.

13. Telecommunication: the transmission, emission, or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds, or 9 the intelligence of any nature by wire, optical, telephone, telegraph, radio, television, or other electromagnetic systems.

14. Telegraphy: a system of telecommunication for the transmission of written matter by the use of a signal code.

15. Telephony: a system of telecommunication set up for the transmission of speech or, in some cases, other sounds.

16. Transmitter: a unit of electronic equipment that is employed in conversion of sound into a radio signal.

17. Wired radio: a system of communication set up for the transmission of voice or sound over wires, with the methods and instrumentalities of radio, especially with modu- lated high frequency currents. Also called "wired wireless" and "radio distribution system" (RDS). This method of transmission is often referred to as "Rediffusion." But

Rediffusion is a proper name used in the title of a London- based, commercial wired radio company.

Other terms will be defined in the text as used.

Format

In this study, the MLA Style Sheet is used. The study is broken down into the following chapters: I. Introduction

II. A Brief History of Nigeria

III. Origin and Growth of Broadcasting in Nigeria 10

IV. Structure of Broadcasting in Nigeria

V. Sunmnary and Conclusions FOOTNOTES

Royal Institute of International Affairs, Colonial

Administrations . European Powers (London: R.I.I.A., 1947), pp. 4o-41.

2 Nigeria: The Political and Economic Background

(London: R.I.I.A., 1960), p. 1.

3 J. A. Hobson, Imerialism: A Study, 3rd ed. (London:

Allen, 1948), p. 2.

A. P. Thornton, Doctrines of Imperialism (New York: Wiley, 1965), p. 2.

5 John Scott Keltie and M. Epstein, eds., Stateman' s

Yearbook (London: Macmillan, 1921), pp. 245-246.

6 Communications in Africa: A Search for Boundaries

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961), p. 57. 7 "New Uses of Mass Communication for the Promotion of

Economic and Social Development," WS/1163109/EC (Paris:

UNESCO, 1963), p. 2. 8 T. W. Chalmers, Five Years of Broadcasting _93l-_2_

(Lagos: Federal Information Service, n.d.), p. 13. 9 Communications in Africa: A Search for Boundaries

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961), p. 15. 10 Michigan 0tate University. 11 Wayne State University.

11 12

12 78B (March), pp. 15-20.

13 "Broadcasting, the Greatest Mass Medium in Nigeria,?

1 0 3 B (May, 1967), p. 63. 14 "Nigerian Radio-TV Goes Semi-Commercial," 19 Septem- ber-1960, p. 82.

15 MLA Style Sheet, 2nd ed. (New York: MLA, 1970). CHAPTER II

A BRIEF HISTORY OF NIGERIA

Nigeria is a nation of about 300 tribes; most have their own language. The three larges tribes--Yoruba, Hausa, and

Ibo--number over five million persons each.1 The religions of these tribes are diverse. There are Christians, Moslems, and followers of traditional indigenous religions.2 Language, tribal, and religious differences--and the problems that arose out of them--combined with the actions of the British, all contributed to the form of broadcasting that developed in

Nigeria and are reviewed in this chapter.

Geography and People of Nigeria

Before the British made contact with West Africa, the lands known as Nigeria belonged to the tribes. These tribes lived their separate independent lives, with no connection between them except during inter-tribal wars.3

During the 18th century, Britain began trading in slaves with the chiefs of the tribes of Nigeria. Britain abandoned the slave trade in 1850 and began trade by barter with the tribes. Barter trade was a system whereby raw resources of the tribes--palm produce, agricultural produce, and mineral resources--had to be exchanged for the products of British industry--tobacco, guns, and alcoholic beverages.4 14

In 1898, Flora Shaw, a British lady, wrote an article in the London Times and in it suggested that the several

British protectorates of the Niger river be known collec- tively as "Nigeria."5 By 1900, three such protectorates had been formed: Lagos, Southern Nigeria, and Northern

Nigeria.6 Lord Frederick Lugard formed the colony of Nigeria by amalgamating the three protectorates on September 16, 1914.

Lugard became the first Governor General of Nigeria the same day. He later married Flora Shaw. 7

Nigeria, at the time of its independence in 1960, covered an area of 373,250 square miles, about the size of Texas and

Oklahoma together. The estimated 1963-64 census reflected a population of 55,620,268, making Nigeria the most populous country on the African continent and the largest black country in the world. Nigeria enjoys a year-round tropical climate and is in the same climatic zone as the State of Florida.

Bounded on the North by the Niger Republic, on the South by the Atlantic Ocean, on the West by Dahomey, and on the East by the Cameroons,8 Nigeria's geographical relationship to water has played a large part in the history of its boundaries and its politics. Nigeria is a seaport to many inland countries of Africa. The natural valleys of the Niger and its great tributary, the Benue, cut through Nigeria, dividing it into three vast areas of unequal sizes. The British government used these landmarks to partition the colony into three 15 regions. As a result, the area of the Northern Region, though filled partly by the Sahara Desert, is roughly three times that of the Western and Eastern Regions put together.

So, while the Northern Region had an area of 281,782 square miles, the Western Region had an area of 45,376 square miles, and the Eastern Region 29,484 square miles.9 Nigeria has since been further divided into twelve states.

The vegetation of the country is diverse. The coast contains a belt of mangrove swamps and narrow creeks. The hinterland contains tropical rain forest. Father north of the hinterland, a vast area of low scattered forest embraces the Niger and Benue valleys. But this northern area also includes many rocky outcrops and rises to a plateau, the highest point of which is 6,000 feet above sea level. From the highest point of the plateau, the country slopes away northward, and the vegetation grows lower and sparser until it terminates in the Sahara Desert near the northern border.1 0

The Western Region was the richest of the three original regions. Its climate and soil favored the growth of cocoa. And cocoa was the chief export crop until the dis- covery of oil in the 1960's. Eastern soil favored the cultivation of palm produceand the Northern Region was famous for production of hides and skins. All these commodities were exported to industrial countries. The Nigerian flag illustrates its economic dependence on agriculture. The 16 mid-segment of the flag is white; the two others are green.

While the white color indicates peace, the green indicates plenty--plenty in terms of the agricultural resources that constitute the mainstay of the country.1 1

Colonial Nigeria: Amalgamation

Nigeria became a British Colony in 1914 when the three protectorates of Lagos, Southern Nigeria, and Northern Ni- geria were amalgamated. The preparations for amalgamation, however, had not been easily accomplished. Even after Bri- tain renounced slave trade, some tribal chiefs and religious sects had continued to deal in slaves, selling them to other

European powers. When Nigeria became a British Colony, native Nigerians were ordered to give up trade with other countries and to trade only with Britain on the barter system.

But the Nigerian slave traders had prospered and did not wish to convert to the barter system. In some cases the British used force to subdue the dissidents. 1 2

Another problem which the British administrators faced while trying to amalgamate the protectorates was a religious one. Britain encouraged and favored Christian missionary activities in the protectorates of Nigeria, but the decision to embrace or reject Christianity was left up to individuals and to tribes. There were, however, certain exceptions to this policy, exceptions necessary from a British colonial point of view. One of these exceptions was in the Northern 17

Nigeria where the inhabitants had been exposed to the Fulani

Jihad in 1804.13 Islamic Northern tribes had been prosecut- ing a iihad (holy war) in an attempt to force Islam on the

Southern tribes. The British formation of protectorates came just in time to prevent the success of the .iihad. The

Northern tribes accepted their status as citizens of one of three British protectorates with little resistance. But when it came to combining the protectorates into a colonial Nigeria, the Northern tribes were unwilling to amalgamate with un- believers in the Islamic faith, those they called "infidels."

Sir Frederick Lugard, then representative of British authority for all three protectorates, felt he had no alternative but to pacify the Northern Region and force it to join the colony. In 1912, Lugard received a clear mandate to unite the protectorates of Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria.

With the aid of British troops, the northern tribes were forcefully pacified, and by 1913, Lugard had accomplished the aims of the mandate.1

On January 1, 1914, amalgamation was proclaimed and

Britain became the "colony and protectorate of Nigeria.1l5

Lugard became the first Governor General of the colony, and

separate Lieutenant Governors were placed in charge of the northern and southern parts of the colony.1 6 18

Antagonism and the Rise of Nigerian Political Parties

From 1914 to 1957, the British ruled Nigeria and held the high government posts. At the lower levels of the government, however, Britain used "Indirect Rule." The British had adopted this policy in governing the protectorates; they continued this practice when the colony of Nigeria was formed.

Under the indirect rule policy, the British did not eliminate tribal governing hierarchies, such as paramount chiefs, the religious sects, or any other kind of office that represented authority in the tribes. Instead, the British ruled the native population through these traditional authority figures.

Using the indirect method of government, the British controlled the economy and the politics of colonial Nigeria.1 7

The colonial administration and its policy of indirect rule were successful to a certain degree. The fact that the colonial administration lasted until 1957 is one indication of its success. However, the rise of an anti-colonial move- ment had begun as far back as 1919.18

In 1918, despite protests by local officials, Lugard had introduced direct taxation, an essential characteristic of indirect rule in the Northern Region, to certain areas of southern Nigeria. While direct taxation succeeded in some tribes of the Benin Area, certain other tribes of Oyo and

Egbalands had revolted against it.1 9 In 1926, the government decided that all persons who had not paid taxes should 19

be assessed and compelled to pay a two and one-half percent

poll tax on their gross annual income. The assessment began

in 1927. It sparked off serious riots,and police patrols of

about 300 men had to be dispatched to quell them. In the

Eastern Region, the riots took a fatal toll: thirty-two

women dead and another thirty-one seriously wounded. As far as Southern Nigeria ("the East" and "the West") was concerned, the institution of taxation marked the end of British popu-

larity. But in the Northern Region, the tribes continued

a policy of docility and obedience to the British.2 0

As colonial Nigeria continued to develop under British

rule, certain rivalries began emerging among the various

tribal groups of the Nigerians. These rivalries led to the

formation of the first native political parties, but they

also contained the seeds of bitter antagonisms that would later tear apart an independent Nigeria. In pre-colonial

times, the British had first established themselves at Lagos

and the area that became the Western Region. The predominant tribe of this region is the Yoruba. Hence, the earliest native elites came from that tribe. In 1948, when Governor

General John Macpherson began to fill top governmental posts with native Nigerians,2 1 many of the posts had fallen to qualified members of the Yoruba tribe. This had sparked jealousy among the other tribes of the Eastern and Northern

Regions, particularly the Ibos and the Hausas. Many members 20 of these two tribes had migrated to Lagos in an effort to fill some of the big posts. But the Yoruba dominated Lagos.

Members of other tribes succeeded in securing only clerical or railway jobs, while the top posts were constantly filled by qualified Yorubas.2 2

The other tribes, particularly the Ibos of the Eastern

Region, had closed ranks and begun formation of radical groups, such as the Pan-Ibo Federal Union.2 3 This had further widened the gulf between the tribes. The Yoruba re- action had been swift. They, like the Iboshad closed ranks, and in 1945 formed the Egbe Omo Oduduwa (Society of the

Descendants of Oduduwa) in London. Three years later at the society's formal inauguration at Ile-Ife (the traditional town of Oduduwa), the Oni (King) of If e declared, "The Yoruba rtribej will not be related to the background in [the future." And one of the new society's objectives was to create and actively foster the idea of a single nationalism throughout Yorubaland and to co-operate with existing ethnical and regional associations . . . in matters of common interest to l Nigerians, so as to attain unity in Federation.

The Hausas,who predominated in the Northern Region, reacted similarly. A small number of northern students educated in Europe and the United States had begun to sense the prevailing atmosphere in the south. In 1943, these students formed the Bauchi Improvement Union under the chairmanship of Mallam Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, later to 21 become the first Prime Minister of Nigeria.25 Many other societies were formed, by the Yoruba, Ibo, and Hausa tribes.

But these three--the Pan-Ibo Federal Union, the Egba Omo

Oduduwa, and the Bauchi Improvement Union--were the most important.

The interest group formed by each predominant tribe of the three regions soon became political parties. The Hausas, of the Northern Region formed the Northern People's Congress

(NPC), the Yorubas of the Western Region formed the Action

Group (AG), and the Ibos of the Eastern Region formed the

National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC).2 6 The first general election in Nigeria was held in 1952. It was con- tested by the three major regional parties. NPCand thus the

Hausas of the Northern Region, won the election by a wide margin. As a result, NPC was able to claim over half the seats in the House of Representatives and to sway decisions of importance to its favor.2 7

Three Constitutions and the Path to Independence

It was becoming apparent that a separate Nigerian constitution was needed for two reasons. First, Great Britain discovered that its own consitution could not be fully im- plemented in colonial Nigeria. The culture, tradition, and heritages of the Nigerians were too different from those of the British. Second, the native intellectuals produced by 22

American and British educations had begun to criticize certain terms of the adopted British constitution.28

After World War II, a separate constitution was proposed for colonial Nigeria by Governor General Arthur

Richards.2 9 He stated the three objectives of the constitution were "to promote the unity of Nigeria, to provide adequately within that unity for the diverse elements which make up the country and to secure greater participation by

Africans in the discussion of their own affairs." 3 0 Despite the good intentions of the Richards' constitution, it crumbled after two years. The constitution failed for three reasons. First, rather than attempting to unite the three regions into a single colony, the constitution advocated more autonomy for each of the regions. Second, the constitution showed favoritism to the docile and nonaggressive Northern tribes. And third, the regional councils created by the constitution, intended to resolve differences that had arisen in the central legislature between north and south, merely helped to emphasize the differences.3 1 If Nigerians were to gain a sense of nationalism, they needed a basic legal document that would encourage national political unity. The Richards' constitution did little to encourage unity. Whereas the main thrust of the Nigerian political structure should have aimed toward unification, a strong national state, and the realiza- tion of a common nationality, the Richards' constitution aimed in the opposite direction.3 2 23

The second post-war constitution was proposed by Sir

John Macpherson, who succeeded Richards as governor in April, 1948.33 The first Macpherson constitutional conference was

held in Ibadan, capital city of the Western Region, in 1950.

It was attended by 159 delegates, 53 from each region. The final recommendations of the conference were approved by the

British colonial secretary, and in January, 1952, the Mac-

pherson constitution went into effect. It created a "quasi-

federal system of government with a central legislature and

executive council."34 The central legislature, otherwise

called the House of Representatives, had 148 members. Six

of them were elected by viture of the colonial offices they

held, another six represented various special interests, and

the remaining 136 were indirectly elected by the regional

assemblies, with half of these 136 members from the Northern

Region. The constitution also created an executive council

of eighteen members. Six were British colonial officials,

and the other twelves were elected, four from each region, by each regional assembly.35 The twelve elected members were

called "ministers." The duty of the House of Representatives

was to make laws for the country, subject to ratification of

the governor. The executive council had no direct association

with the House of Representatives, but served as the gover- nor's advisors. The constitution divided Nigeria into three

regions--Western, Eastern, and Northern--each with its own assembly. The three regional assemblies were to make laws for their respective regions and to collect regional taxes.

Under the Macpherson constitution, the lieutenant governors were to act as premiers of each region, and the governor in

Lagos was to act as prime minister.36

However, Macpherson's constitution did not establish a stable system of Nigerian government because it gave as much power to the regions as it gave to the national government.

As a result, Nigeria faced many governmental crises caused by political confrontations between the constitutionally powerful regional legislatures and the central House of Repre- sentatives.3 7 The constitution finally collapsed in the central legislature in Lagos in April 1953, when the ministers of both the AG party and the NCNC party walked out of the

House in a conflict over a bill on Nigerian self-government.38

The walk-out necessitated a series of constitutional conferences which began in 1953-54 and ended in 1957-58 with the London Constitutional Convention.3 9 The three parties were represented in the conferences, and a new Federal con-

stitution was drawn up that expanded the seats in the House of

Representatives to 320. Each of the three regions was given

complete self-government with no other power over it. Each region elected its own Premier. The office of Prime Minister was created as the head of the Federal Government.4 0 A

second bill for self-government was introduced on March 26, 25

1957, in the Federal House of Representatives. The Northern

Region opposed the motion. However, in the 1957 London Con- stitutional Conference, it was agreed that the Eastern and

Western Regions could have self-government as soon as they wanted. Therefore, both the West and the East became self- governing on August 8, 1957,41 three years beforethe independence of 1960.

An election to choose a new Federal Parliament was a condition of independence set by the British government.42

The election was held in December, 1959. After some negotia- tions, a coalition government was formed. On September 30, 1960, the British Union Jack flew over Nigeria for the last time. At midnight, at a ceremony in Lagos, the Prime Minister saluted an independent Nigeria.43

Independent Nigeria

Three Steps Toward Civil War

At the time of independence, AG was headed by Chief Oba- femi Awolowo, NCNC by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, and NPC by Sir

Ahmadu Bello. The leader of the Action Group, Chief Obafemi

Awalowo, had tried to form a coalition government with NCNC.

Had this happened, the Civil War of 1967, perhaps would not have occurred. But in 1959, NCNC chose to form a coalition with the NPC.4 3ir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, as Prime Minister, became the official head of the federal government of Nigeria, 26 and Dr. Azikiwe, as Governor General, then President, was officially the head of the Senate. Chief Awolowo and his party, the Action Group, became the opposition.45 The

NPC-NCNC coalition government resulted in a wave of dissent that swept over and divided the tribes. As a result, independence brought to Nigeria not peace and tranquility but internal strife--mutinies, wars, and destruction. The NPC-

NCNC coalition was the first step toward the 1967 Civil War.

There were two other main causes for the Civil War of

1967. The first was the 1963 census. The Eastern and Western

Regions believed the 1963 census to have been rigged by the party in government, NPC. The results of the census published in 1964 showed the Northern Region with a greater population than the Western, Eastern, and Mid-Western Regions put together. According to the constitution, the number of people in a region determined the number of seats to which a region was entitled in the Parliament. The Hausas and the

NPC dominated the Northern Region. Thus, if the census were to stand, it meant that NPC could control the government as long as it wanted. But the Northern Region consisted mostly of the Sahara Desert. And many doubted the arid region could support the large population which the 1963 census reported.46

In addition to the NPCrNCNC coalition and the 1963 census, the 1964 elections also contributed to the outbreak of the 1967 Civil War. In the early 1960's, the NPCA-NCNC 27 coalition in the federal government was responsible for the sentencing of Chief Awolowo, leader of AG, to a ten-year prison term of what the federal government described as treason.4 7 Chief S. L. Akintola, then Vice President of the

Action Group, helped the federal government in convicting

Chief Awolowo for the alleged political offense. Because of

Chief Akintola's role in Awolowo's conviction, AG split in

1962 between members supporting Chief Akintola and members supporting Alhaji Adegbenro, acting as leader of AG in Chief

Awolowo's absence.> Chief Akintola and his supporters formed the Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP). In readiness for a new election in December, 1964, NCNC renounced its coalition with NPC. During the campaign period that followed,

Chief Akintola's party, NNDP, merged with NPC to form the

Nigerian National Alliance (NNA). AG merged with NCNC to form the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA).49

The campaign period was a trying time for Nigeria as a whole. The election race was between the two big coalition parties, and both resorted to the basest forms of campaigning, particularly in the Southern Regions where NNA was not well known. 50

The election was held amidst chaos, anarchy, and blood-

shed, and NNA won. The southern tribes felt NNDP, the party that merged with NPC to form NNA, had betrayed the southern

cause. NNDP party leader, Chief Ladoke Akintola, was labeled

a traitor.5 1 28

Although the election was over, the fighting continued.

Many Nigerians, particularly citizens of the Western Region, were unwilling to be ruled by a party which had won the election by dubious means. NNA, in turn, carried out reprisals--mass killings,arrests, etc.--against those who resisted its rule.5 2

Military Rule

The fighting, resistance, and reprisals that tore the country apart continued for a year and a half. Prime Minister

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, serving a second consecutive five- year term, contended he was helpless to correct the situation.53

Then the Nigerian military took action. On January 16, 1966, a section of the Nigerian army led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu mutinied and killed all civilian leaders and some senior military personnel.51 Included among the slain politicians were the Prime Minister; Chief S. L. Akintola, Western Region premier; the President of NPC, the Sardauna of Sokoto; and

several other ministers. Nigerian citizens had been hoping for a change and so welcomed the military mutiny. But it

soon became evident that the mutiny was the work of partisans from the Eastern Region, another example of the regionalism

that continued to disrupt efforts at national unificiation.

During the mutiny, none of the corrupt political leaders of

the Eastern Region had been killed, the President himself having been away on a "health cruise" abroad; no senior 29 military personnel of Eastern Regional origin had been killed; and the leader of the mutiny was from the Eastern Region.5 5

The commander of the Nigerian army, Major General Aguyi-

Ironsi, on January 17, 1966, officially took command of the

country, assumed all powers of the Nigerian government, and arrested the military mutineers.5 6 The steps taken by Ironsi restored some confidence in the citizens, particularly the

Western and Northern tribes, and the tribes hoped for a

speedy trial and conviction of the mutineers. Soon, however, reports circulated that Major General Ironsi did not intend the mutineers to stand trial. Quite the contrary, the mutineers were receiving full army salaries and benefits.5 7

Additionally, soon after Ironsi's takeover of the Nigerian government, he promoted many army officers and many diplomatic personnel of Eastern origin.5 8 It appeared then that General

Ironsi was handling the volatile situation tribalistically, demonstrating favoritism. It was the worst time in any national history for a leader to be tribalistic.

Because of the tribalistic attitude of General Ironsi, a counter-coup broke out in July, 1966.59 In this coup,

General Ironsi and many other military personnel of the

Eastern Region were killed. After the second goup, the Nor- therners, still grieving over the death of their leaders during the first coup, were taunted by some Ibo (the Eastern tribe) tribesmen who were living in the Northern Region. The 30

Northerners responded by killing a number of their resident

Easterners. As a result, former Easterners began a mass exodus from all parts of Nigeria back to the Eastern Region.6 0

Civil War and -After

After the July coup, General Yakubu Gowon took charge of the government of Nigeria. He later became the Supreme Com- mander of the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Head of State.

In his first broadcast to the nation on July 29, 1966, shortly after the coup, Gowon declared that trust and confidence were lacking in the Nigerian government and that the basis of unity was absent among the regions.61

At first, Gowon attempted to use persuasion to reconcile the differences between the Eastern Region and the rest of

Nigeria. Later, when persuasion failed, General Gowon appealed to the military leader of Ghana, General Joseph Ankrah, to persuade the Eastern leadership not to plunge the country into chaos. He asked General Ankrah to cooperate with the

Nigerian military leaders in seeking a peaceful solution to the Nigerian problem. On January 2, 1967, the Nigerian Supreme

Military Council met in Aburi, Ghana, under the auspices of

General Ankrah. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a peace settlement ntfor Nigeria. All Nigerian military leaders expressed confidence in the existing institution but with necessary safeguards added.6 2 31

Lieutenant General Odumegwu Ojukwu, Ibo and native of the Eastern Region, had been appointed by General Ironsi to govern his tribe. After the July coup, Ojukwu had kept his appointment. He was one of the military leaders who parti- cipated in ard supposedly concurred in the Aburi agreement.

Yet, upon his return from Aburi, he took exception with certain parts of the agreement, asserting they were inconsistent with his perception of what had been agreed to in Aburi. Ojukwu wanted the exercise of legislative and executive authority of the federal government to be made only with unanimous con- currence of all the military governors. Ojukwu also wanted the military governors, as regional heads of governments, to have veto power over the acts of the head of the federal military government, while General Gowon would notexercise such veto with respect to any region. Ojukwu deliberately exer- cised regional executive authority in a manner contrary to the constitution of Nigeria and to the Aburi agreement; by

May, 1967, Ojukwu had illegally assumed legislative and executive powers and was exercising absolute rule in the

Eastern Region by means of decrees.6 3

Meanwhile, the Supreme Military Council had met in Lagos on April 22, 1967, and adopted a comprehensive political and administrative program for preserving the federation. This included the creation of more states, preparation and introduction of a new constitution, a National Economic 32

Reconstruction program with particular emphasis on the early restoration of normal economic links, and supervision of elections for a new civilian government. 6 4

On May 17, 1967, Lieutenant Colonel Ojukwu predicted the break-up of the Federation of Nigeria and announced his in- tention to establish a separate monetary system for Eastern

Nigeria.6 5 And on May 26, 1967, Ojukwu addressed a joint session of the Eastern Nigerian Consultative Assembly and reiterated that,

If as is now customary, the Lagos and Kaduna authori- ties continue to spurn our genuine proposals for a form of association as sovereign units, merely because they wish to dominate the country through a strong central government, I would expect the people of this region to resist to the last man their aggressive designs on this region.66

On May 27, 1967, General Gowon commented that the crisis was a test to determine the will of the nation to survive.

Gowon stated,

The citizens of the country have not given the military regime any mandate to divide up the country into sov- reign states and to plunge them into bloody disaster. Faced with this final choice, between action to save Nigeria and acquiescence in secession and disintegra- tion, I am, therefore, proclaiming a stat of emergency throughout Nigeria with immediate effect. 7

On the same day, in line with the program agreed upon during the April meeting in Lagos, twelve states were created by decree. Lieutenant Colonel Ojukwu continued as military governor of the East Central State of Nigeria.68 33

That evening, Ojukwu and some rebel supporters declared the secession of the East Central State and renamed it

"Biafra." But Nigeria could not accept the secession of its

East Central State. The constitution of Nigeria made no provision for secession, and the government, already weak and unstable from years of strife, felt it could not tolerate an act that would further weaken its internal structure and make Nigeria susceptible to foreign invasion.69

The rebel military launched its offensive on July 2,

1967, with an air strike against Lokoja airport in Lokota, a city in the North.7 0 Many people died, and many more were wounded. Ojukwu declared total war on Nigeria on July 6, 1967, after a rebel army force raided and entered into Benue plateau and the Kwara States of Nigeria.71 The war between the federal troops and the rebels raged for three years. However, on January 10, 1970, Federal troops captured Owerri, the last town in Biafran hands.7 2

Ojukwu handed over the administration of Biafra to

Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Effiong and other Ibo leaders and, together with some civilian rebel leaders, fled from Biafra.7 3

The war finally ended when Federal forces captured Uli

Ihiala, a Biafran air strip, on January 14, 1970, and Lieuten- ant Colonel Effiong, remaining head of the defeated secessionist forces, handed a signed declaration of surrender to General Gowon on January 15, 1970, in Dodan Barracks, Lagos.74 34

Immediately after the war, postwar reconstruction and rehabilitation activities began. Presently, many Ibo civilians and military officers have been reunited with their families and with Nigeria as a whole. 7 5

The history of Nigeria is inextricably linked with that of its broadcasting. The colonization of Nigeria, its colonial and postcolonial histories, particularly its constitutional formations and reforms, directly influenced the growth and the development of Nigerian broadcasting. This pattern of growth--the national and the regional systems-- is discussed in the next chapter. FOOTNOTES

Royal Institute of International Affairs, Nigeria:

The Political and Economic Background (London: R.I.I.A., 1960), pp. 1, 2. 2 Michael Crowder, A Short History of Nigeria (New York:

Praeger, 1966), p. 23.

3 R.I.I.A., Nigeria, p. 27. Crowder, p. 40.

A. H. M. Kirk-Green, "Who Coined the Name Nigeria?"

West Africa, 22 December 1956, pp. 1-2.

6 Obafemi Awolowo, The People's Republic (Ibadan: Oxford

University Press, 1968), p. 17. 7 Crowder, p. 20. 8 R.I.I.A., Nigeria, p. 1.

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid., p. 2.

11 Nigeria, Nigeria's National Symbols (Lagos: Ministry of Information Service, n.d.), p. 1. 12 Rex Akpofure and Michael Crowder, Nigeria, A Modern

History for Schools (London: Faber, 1966), p. 185. The Aro

Sect, a traditional governing hierarchy that persisted in slave trading, was subdued in 1902, by Britain.

35 36

13 R.I.I.A., Nigeria, p. 1.

14 Akpofure and Crowder, p. 190.

15 R.I.I.A., Nigeria, p. 36.

16 Akpofure and Crowder, p. 190.

17 R.I.I.A., Nigeria, p. 64.

18 Akpofure and Crowder, pp. 191, 198.

19 Ibid., p. 194. The destruction of railway line and looting of stations in Eghaland in 1918 are typical examples. 20 Ibid., pp. 204, 194. 21 Ibid., p. 218. Macpherson appointed the first "Ni- gerianization committee" consisting of eight people. One of these was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was to become the first

President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The committee was to examine and make recommendations on the recruitment and training of Nigerians for the Senior Civil Service. Also, Macpherson appointed Dr. S. L. Manuwa to be the Director of the Medical Services in Nigeria. Dr. Manuwa thus became the first Nigerian to head a government department. Additionally,

Macpherson appointed and chaired a Colonial Executive Com- mittee consisting of four other persons, all Nigerians.

Macpherson has been described as "a comparatively young

Governor (whose] liberal governorship saw many changes within a brief period." Akpofure and Crowder, p. 217. 22 Ibid.

23 Ibid. 37 24 Ibid., p. 220.

25 Ibid., p. 221

26 Frederick Schwarz, Nigeria: The Tribes, the Nation or the Race--The Politics of Independence (Massachusetts:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1965), p. 60. 27 Akpofure and Crowder, p. 225.

28 Ibid., p. 205.

29 Awolowo, p. 271.

30 Ibid., p. 273.

31 Akpofure and Crowder, p. 215.

32 Crowder, p. 273. 33 Awolowo, p. 276. 34 Akpofure and Crowder, p. 218.

35 R.I.I.A., Nigeria, p. 44.

36 Akpofure and Crowder, p. 223.

37 Ibid., p. 224. 38 Ibid., p. 225.

39 Awolowo, p. 49. 40 R.I.I.A., Nieria, pp. 56, 57.

41 Akpofure and Crowder, pp. 236, 237. 42 R.I.I.A., Nigeria, p. 58.

43 Akpofure and Crowder, p. 238.

1+4 Ibid. 45 R.I.I.A., Nigeria, p. 61.

46 Crowder, p. 23. 47 Schwarz, Nigeria, p. 149. 38

48 Schwarz, Nigeria, p. 131.

9 Ibid., p. 167.

50 Ibid., p. 181.

51 Ibid., p. 180.

52 Ibid., p. 183

53 Ibid., p. 189

54 Ntieyong Akpan, The Struggle for Secession, 1966-

__ (London: Cass, 1971), P. 9.

55 Akpan, Struggle for Secession, p. 10. 56 Nnamdi Azikiwe, "Origin of the Nigerian Civil War,"

Nigeria Roundup, 1, no. 5 (1969), 31.

57 Schwarz, Nigeria, p. 203. 58 Ibid., p. 204.

59 Azikiwe, "Nigerian Civil War," pp. 3-4. 60 Akpan, Struggle for Secession, p. 10.

61 Ibid., p. 68. 62 Azikiwe, "Nigerian Civil War," p. 5.

63 Ibid., p. 6.

64 Ibid., p. 8. 65 Ibid.

66 Ibid., p. 9. 67 Ibid., p. 10.

68 Ibid., 69 Akpan, Struggle for Secession, p. 10. 39

70 "Rebel Airforce Raided the Cities of Lagos and Kano,"

Nigerian Morning Post, 5 July 1967, p. 1. 71 'Tony Enahoro, "Fallacies and Misconceptions on the

Nigerian Situation," Nigerian Roundup, 2 no. 5 (1970), p. 12. 72 "The Fall of Owerri," Nigerian Daily Times, 11 Janu- ary 1970, p. 1. 73 "?0jukwu Fled to Unknown Place," New Nigeria, 12

January 1970, p. 1.

"The Surrender Document," Nigerian Daily Times, 15

January 1970, p. 1.

75 Azikiwe, "Nigerian Civil War," p. 10. CHAPTER III

ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF BROADCASTING

IN NIGERIA

Prebroadcasting Electronic Media

Telecommunications

Telegraph and telephone were the first systems of communications in Nigeria. Britain provided Nigeria with its first telegraph lines in 1895, to facilitate construction of the railway between Lagos and Abeokuta.1 The first recorded use of wireless telegraphy in Nigeria occurred in 1913.2

The telephone system began in 1908 with the opening of a 200-line exchange in Lagos. This was followed by the opening of a 50-line board at Apobo in 1909. In 1919, there were 920 telephones in Nigeria with public telephone ex- changes in eleven towns.3 In accordance with the British

Telegraph Act of 1869, the operation and regulation of telecommunication facilities was placed under control of Nigeria's colonial post office,4 thus setting the pattern for regulation of electronic communication in Nigeria.

Wired Wireless

Wired-wireless activities preceded radio broadcasting in Nigeria. The wired-wireless system began in 1935 when the

40 colonial government in Nigeria directed the Nigerian Posts and

Telegraphs Department to develop the system. Wired wireless-- also called "Wired Radio," "Radio Distribution Service" (RDS), or "Rediffusion"--was a method of distributing programs by wire to those who subscribe. 5

The service operated in conjunction with the Empire service of the BBC and was confined to rebroadcast of BBC programs.6 The first wired-wireless distribution station was set up in Lagos in December, 1935.7

By 1939, there were three RDS stations, operated and maintained by the Nigerian Posts and Telegraphs Department.

The same year, the newly established Public Relations Office

(PRO) in the colony began originating a few local programs to be used on RDS stations. But even as late as 1948, some RDS

stations rebroadcast British-originated programs seventeen

and a half hours daily and ran only one hour of PRO (local) programs. 8 By 1951, however, the then thirteen RDS stations

began to emphasize local programming.9 An officer of PRO was put in charge of each station with orders to include

local productions in its activities, to provide Nigerian

artists with opportunities to perform and to localize program

structures. With station responsibility assigned to PRO,

only maintenance of the lines connecting subscribers to the

RDS stations remained the responsibility of the Posts and

Telegraphs Department. 1O At the beginning of the RDS, the composition of its audience ranged from the small community of British residents in Nigeria to the mass of semi-literate and illiterate tribesmen. In between these two groups were the few native elites.

The majority of the tribesmen were farmers, unfamiliar with the English language. And while the British residents and native elites enjoyed and probably benefited from the rebroadcast British programs, the greater part of the RDS audience preferred the PRO-produced local programs. Also, though individual subscription to RDS was common among the British residents and native elites, most tribesmen had smaller in- comes than the residents and elites and subscribed in groups.

In 1948, it was assumed that an average of six persons listened on each receiver or wired loudspeaker. 1 1

Following recommendations of the 1949 Turner-Byron Report,1 2

RDS existed side by side with broadcasting in Nigeria for a number of years.13 In 1960, there were forty-eight RDS stations, thirty-six of them privately owned.14 RDS systems were a source of colonial revenues for Britain, since many,

such as the Overseas Rediffusion Limited, were owned by

British companies.15.

RDS systems grew from serving less than 1,000 subscribers in 1939,16 to 74,000 subscribers, and perhaps six times as many listeners in 1960.17 Presently, there are no RDS systems

in Nigeria. Overseas Rediffusion Limited, the last of the RDS companies, completed its fifteen year franchise in 1967.18

The ultimate demise of RDS resulted from two factors--the regionalization of Nigerian broadcasting and the rise in per capita income of native Nigerians. The growth of the national broadcasting service did not result in suffocation of the RDS, but the later growth of the regional broadcasting systems did. The regional broadcasting systems gave attention to local programming while RDS systems primarily rebroadcast

BBC programs. Additionally, the average salary of Nigerians began increasing. The increase meant many Nigerians had a greater discretionary income and could purchase either home broadcast receiving sets or the cheaper transistorized "port- ables." With such receivers, the Nigerians were not restricted to the channels offered by the RDS, but could tune any station with a strong signal. Naturally, the majority opted for this "freedom of tuning" over the restrictions of

RDS. 19

Nigerian Broadcasting Service

Beginning

There may have been a broadcasting station in Nigeria as early as 1933. 0. S. Coker, a press attache with the

Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, D.C., and professional journalist, has written concerning the origin of broadcasting in Nigeria: Broadcasting in Nigeria dates back to 1932; in fact, December 1932, when the BBC started what they called the Empire Service, and Lagos was one of the receiving centers. For a short while, Lagos would only receive; it could not re-broadcast, and even then if it had wanted to re-broadcast, there were not many receiving sets. So, between 1932 and 1934, the primary duty of the station was to receive, but the station evolved a system in which it could redistribute BBC news. The program was wholly BBC--nothing local, and in fact until 1951, when the Nigerian Broadcasting Service was inaugurated, most of the programs on the wireless (because it was under the Posts and Telegraphs Depart- ment th n) were BBC programs, with one or two local items.2

Colonial office records bear out to some degree that there may have been some kind of wireless reception activity in

Lagos in 1932.21

In late 1936, the British government appointed a group to study the possibilities of developing broadcasting in the colonies. In 1937, the Plymouth Committee, as the group was called, recommended that colonial broadcasting should be developed as an instrument of advanced administration, en- lightenment, and education of Nigerians. However, World War

II intervened, and it was not until 1948 that the Secretary of State of the British colonies urged colonial governments to evaluate the adequacy of their existing broadcasting arrange- ments. He endorsed the recommendation of the Plymouth

Committee that broadcasting should be operated by governments as a public service.2 2 The BBC was immediately commissioned to conduct a survey of broadcasting facilities in West Africa.2 3 Just before the visit of the BBC team, the Department of

Posts and Telegraphs in Nigeria established a broadcasting station in Lagos. The station relayed the ordinary rediffusion programs on shortwave.24 It operated as "Radio Nigeria" and had one 300-watt transmitter that often broke down, caus- ing the station to go off the air. Its low-power limited coverage, and its programming was intended only for native

Nigerians, but on a few occasions, its signals were picked up in countries as far away as Sweden and New Zealand. The tim- ing of the inauguration of Radio Nigeria has since given rise to speculation that the station was launched in anticipation of the Colonial Office-BBC survey; there was no reason given for creation of Radio Nigeria other than "experimental pur- poses." Whatever the "true" reason, it does not detract from the significance of Radio Nigeria--here, for perhaps the first time, was the colony's own radio voice. Radio Nigeria ceased operations in 1951 when the Nigerian Broadcasting Service

(NBS) commenced its operation.2 5

The BBC survey itself, however, criticized the state of

Nigerian broadcasting. In their report, basically technical in nature, L. W. Turner and F. A. W. Byron, directors of the survey team, stated that development of Nigerian radio was the most retarded of the four countries surveyed; broadcasting in Nigeria was all but nonexistent. Radio Nigeria's low-powered shortwave transmitter was inadequate, its site was unsatisfactory, its studio arrangement was poor, and its

already out-of-date equipment was in bad condition.2 6 The

survey team recommended the four surveyed colonies--Gambia, Gold Coast (now Ghana), Nigeria, and Sierra-Leone--have one

broadcasting service in common. It was to be called the West

African Broadcasting Corporation and was to have its head-

quarters in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Furthermore,

it was to have a Director of Programs and a Director of

Technical Services in London and an operational staff in each

colony.2 7 However, the single-service recommendation was re-

jected by the colonial government of each of the four colon-

ies; one program could not have been expected to serve the

diverse religious, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds of

the various peoples in the four colonies.2 8

In 1949, the British Parliament passed the first signi-

ficant Colonial Development and Welfare (CDW) Act. This act

was aimed at formulating a plan to establish national and

regional broadcasting in Nigeria. Toward this end, Parlia-

ment provided 190,000 ($570,000), later increased to f205,000 ($615,000). The colonial government in Nigeria

allocated an additional 150,000 ($450,000) for the project, and decided to launch the new national service by converting

RDS stations into broadcasting facilities. The BBC had

promised to help train native staff for the service.2 9 A

broadcasting department was established under direct control 47 of the chief secretary of the colony. The head of the department was to be the Director General, appointed by the

Governor General.3 0 The first Director General was T. W.

Chalmers of the BBC, who together with J. W. Murray, another

BBC employee and an engineer, were brought to Nigeria for the primary purpose of formulating a broadcasting plan acceptable to the government. The plan required a capital expenditure of 1335,000 ($1,005,000) over a three-year period, as recommended by the 1948 Turner-Byron report. With acceptance of the plan, the Nigerian Broadcasting Service was born.3 1

Development: 91-19%6

Problems.--The Nigerian Broadcasting Service began operations in 1951. This was a critical period in Nigerian history as the colony struggled toward constitutional reform and self-government.3 2 The infant radio service was not immune to three struggles. Ian Mackay, last expatriate

Director General of the Service, described the problems fac- ing NBS in its early years:

A world situation growing alarming day by day, with limited money and purchasing power which had fallen drastically since the original estimates had been prepared, and in a Nigeria with constitutional difficulties which threatened ie very existence of the NBS before it even started.

Broadcasting development was hampered also by a lack of technical facilities. Mackay has written that the Nigerian Broadcasting Service commenced operation April 1, 1951. In actuality, however, NBS had considerable problems with its first transmitter, and the first national program was not transmitted until fifteen months later, on June 27, 1952.34

There were other problems besides political and technical difficulties. World inflation was at a peak because of conflict in the Far East. The Korean War had created a scarcity of vital materials needed for technical development of the broadcasting service.35 The transmitter sites recommended by the 1948 survey were no longer available, and there was difficulty in finding and hiring trained personnel for technical staffing.3 6 In addition, political events in

Nigeria itself, where the regions were demanding more power and autonomy, threatened the new service.3 7

Training.--The colonial government in Nigeria was well aware of the necessity of trained native broadcasters. T. W.

Chalmers, first Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting

Service, stated, "The declared aim of the NBS is to train

Nigerians to run the service with the same standards as those set by the BBC. Nothing less is worthy of this country and people."38 The BBC had, in 1949, promised to help train

Nigerians for broadcasting. The BBC kept its promise and in

1951, the year NBS began operations, sent over a number of its people as training cadre. In 1952, Chalmers noted that ten percent of his staff were expatriates, mostly British 49 on loan from the BBC, who were to aid in the training program of the Nigerians for broadcasting.3 9 .

The training method employed by the British was "on-the- job" instruction by experienced BBC staff members who conducted workshops or training sessions in Nigeria. Ian Mackay, a New Zealander4o and last expatriate Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, noted, Staff training and development had to proceed simul- taneously, and shortage of teachers, facilities, and equipment made the utmost demands on the people involved. Training was to be in Nigeria where Niger- ians would learn by actual operation and example and at times this was accomplished at the expense of listeners. The advantage of the course was the immediate evaluation in learning by actual perform- ance and personal application to the problems. This more than off-set the dis dvantage of having semi- trained staff on the air. 1

The emphasis on training within Nigeria increased as time went on, but it was by no means the only training scheme put into operation. Provision was made for selected candidates to undertake BBC courses in Great Britain.4 2 The Staff Training

Department of the BBC, established in 1936,43 had been re- organized in 1941 to undertake training of personnel from colonies and commonwealth countries.

The program of Nigerianization progressed steadily in all departments but one. The exception was engineering, where the program proceeded too quickly. Most of the BBC personnel loaned to NBS were involved in programming, not engineering. Therefore, the few technical officers that the 50

BBC could spare embarked upon rapid training of native

Nigerians to meet technical staffing needs of NBS. Most of the natives had had no prior engineering experience and therefore found it difficult to keep abreast of the training.

Consequently, for a while the degree of competence actually declined. 5 The technical condition of NBC has since improved with time. But both facilities and personnel must still improve considerably before technical aspects of NBC are on a par with those of developed nations' broadcasting systems.46

By the time NBS signed off in 1957, new transmitters had been bought to replace the old ones, programming had been expanded and was broadcast in a number of Nigerian languages.

Moslem and Christian religious sessions had been introduced.

And the staff had expanded from three, including one Nigerian, to 472, 415 of whom were Nigerians.47

The beginning of NBS in 1951 coincided with the political reforms that occurred between 1952 and 1954. During this time, events in the Nigerian political scene changed radically the nature of Nigerian broadcasting.

Crisis and Change

In 1952, the broadcasting service took over operation of existing RDS stations from the Posts and Telegraphs Department.

These stations formed the nucleus of the service. But new

RDS stations appeared and one of them almost created a crisis in Nigeria. The colonial government of Nigeria, headed by 51

Governor General John Macpherson, insisted from the beginning that NBS be noncommercial. But they also permitted development and expansion of new RDS operations. Commercially motivated and privately owned, most such operations were run by foreign (especially British) companies, with Overseas

Rediffusion Limited taking the lead. So, while the new RDS systems ran advertising, particularly on the local level, the newborn NBS was not permitted by the British colonial government to advertise, and had to rely only on annual license fees for its revenues. The Service was new, and relatively few Nigerians could afford the cost of broadcasting receivers, so that the total collected from license fees was rather small.48

Native Nigerians believed that either NBS should be commercial also, giving it the revenues needed to put together programming that would be competitive with that of the new

RDS, or the commercial RDS should be eliminated. They felt the colonial government's sanction of RDS commercial operations to be exploitation of the colony's revenue, and a near crisis developed. This was more pronounced in Lagos and the Western Region, where Macpherson's government had granted London's Overseas Rediffusion Limited a fifteen-year franchise to operate an RDS system.49 Native elites, particularly leaders of the Action Group (AG), concentrated in

Lagos and the Western Region, spearheaded protest in those 52 areas. 5 0 Eventually, the protest died down, but its effect was felt in succeeding developments.

In 1953, Governor General Macpherson criticized the AG party over NBS. However, NBS did not obtain permission to carry a rebuttal, denying Chief Obafemi Awolowo, AG leader, time to reply. This angered many Nigerians,51 and was probably one of the precipitating factors that led the AG to support a bill on self-government, introduced by one of its members in the House of Representatives in 1953. Members of both the AG and the Eastern Region's party, the National

Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), walked out of the House when the Northern People's Congress (NPC) party defeated the bill. The walkout led to permanent adjournment of the House and ultimately to breakdown of the existing (Macpherson) constitution.52

Many Nigerians believed NBS's refusal of reply time to

Chief Awolowo to be unwarranted governmental control of broadcasting. So, in 1954, the Nigerian press began to pressure the colonial government to abandon broadcasting on the federal level, to decentralize broadcasting, and to avoid a controlled NBS. The press feared that NBS might soon become an official organ of the government; the precedent for this fear was the Daily Times of Nigeria, an official news- paper of the Nigerian government.5 3 The press, therefore, urged that broadcasting be left strictly to the regions.54 53

The same year, 1954, the House of Representatives recon- vened to draw up a new constitution for Nigeria. In this new constitutional conference, the regional governments insisted that any new national charter contain "a provision for broadcasting to be within the competence of Eboth) the central and the regional governments."?SS The result was a constitutional provision that guaranteed regional autonomy in broadcasting.5 6

Also in 1954, a motion was put forth in the Federal House of Representatives to establish a Nigerian Broadcasting

Corporation (NBC), "patterned on the traditions of the BBC."57

The bill was introduced specifically "in order to remove the press criticism that NBS is an organ of the Nigerian government." 5 8 But BBC-like or not, many Nigerians felt the proposal would make their broadcasting even more national government oriented. This was specifically what the regional governments did not want. The federal government, on the other hand, issued a white paper urging transformation of

NBS into NBC "without delay." It took two more years to pass appropriate legislation.59 And, although NBC finally came into being, the regional governments reacted by putting their own radio stations on the air.

Regional Broadcasting Systems

After NBC commenced operations, it centralized activities and decision-making in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria. The regions, already suspicious of the motives behind the creation of NBC, interpreted such centralization as simply continuation of federal control. This gave rise to further regional dissatisfaction. Additionally, there was a general political rivalry among the regions. Each region felt that it was not adequately represented in the programming of NBC.

Therefore, the three NBC extension stations, one in each region, began to secede from NBC. So, instead of one national broadcasting service, Nigeria in effect began to develop four.6 0

The secession of the regional broadcasting services from

NBC was constitutional and legal. It was based on the 1954 constitutional provision that guaranteed autonomy to the regions in broadcasting. This provision meant literally that any region could secede from NBC. And this was precisely what happened in 1959 when the Western Regional Government, whose

AG party had been criticized in 1953, seceded from NBC. The secession led to the inauguration of the Western Nigerian

Broadcasting Corporation (WNBC), in 1959. The Eastern Region followed the trend of broadcasting polarization with its own radio service, Eastern Nigerian Broadcasting Service (ENBS), on October 1, 1960, the same day Nigeria attained its independence from Britain.6 1

As political rivalries developed among the regions and between the regions and the federal government, so were their rivalries reflected in the various broadcasting services. 55

Each service had its own motto that expressed to some degree the problems behind the incipient regionalization. The

Western Region's slogan was "First in Africa," while the

Eastern Region proudly rebutted with its "Second to None" motto. These mottoes imply rivalry among the regional broadcasting systems. The ideal of "One Nigeria" expressed in the NBC motto "Unity in Diversity, Diversity in Unity" was slowly disintegrating.6 2

By October 1, 1960, the first day of Nigeria's independence, there were three broadcasting systems--NBC in Lagos;

WNBC in Ibadan, capital city of the Western Region; and

ENBS in Enugun, capital city of the Eastern Region. The system for the Northern Region commenced operation in 1962.

The Northern Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NNBC) followed the trend of its predecessors by locating in Kaduna, capital city of the Northern Region.6 3

The regional governments still remembered the 1952

RDS-NBS dispute over advertising revenues. In fact, the RDS system, the granting of whose franchise precipitated the dispute, was still in operation. So, as each regional broadcasting service seceded from the national service, the new regional service immediately began accepting and airing

"personal paid announcements.?64 The new regional systems took over the facilities of NBC in each region. Later, each of the three regional governments expanded its broadcasting 56 system's facilities and personnel to give full service to its audience.65

In the wake of the Civil War in 1967,66 the three regions were further divided into twelve states. As a result, three additional broadcasting systems were added--Midwestern

State Broadcasting Service, North Eastern State Programming

Service, and South Eastern States Programming Service. At this time, ENBS became the Central Eastern State Broadcasting

Service, and NNBS became the North Central State Broadcasting

Service.6 7 The government of each state provided each new state radio service with new facilities. These included studios, transmitters, and other technical necessities of broadcasting.68

Summary

The period between 1952 through 1970 saw radical changes in the concept and structure of Nigerian broadcasting. The realities of a young country's turbulent politics had directly affected that country's radio services. The 1950 conception of a single, national, noncommercial broadcasting service had evolved into seven separate systems--one national and the others regional in scope--six of which ran advertising.

The structure of Nigerian broadcasting--the result of that evolution--is discussed in detail in the next chapter. FOOTNOTES

1 John Scott Keltie and M. Epstein, eds., Stateman's

Yearbook (London: Macmillan, 1921), pp. 245-246. 2 Stateman's Yearbook (1915), p. 239. 3 Letter from the Nigerian Postmaster General, March 24, 1965.

James Frank Brown, The Cable and Wireless Communica- tions of the World (London: Pitman and Sons, 1927), p. 121. 5 Letter from the Nigerian Postmaster General, March 24, 1965. 6 Ian K. Mackay, Broadcasting in Nigeria (Ibadan: Ox- ford University Press, 1964), p. 2. 7 Ibid., pp. 3-4. 8 Ibid.

9 UNESCO, Press, Fi Radio: Reports on the Facilities of Mass Communication, V (Paris: UNESCO, 1951), 427. 10 Mackay, pp. 6-7. 11 Ibid., p. 5. 12 See Supra, p. 8. 13 Great Britain, Colonial Office, Interim Report of a

Committee on Broadcasting Services in the Colonies (Colonial

No. 139, sec. 16; London: Colonial Office, 1937). 58

14 Royal Institute of International Affairs, Nigeria:

The Political and Economic Background (London: R.I.I.A., 1960), p. 120.

15 Mackay, p. 153. 16 Ibid., p. 3. 17 R.I.I.A., Nigeria, p. 120.

18 0. S. Coker, "Mass Media in Nigeria," Perspectives on Mass Media Systems: India, Japan, Nigeria, USSR, World- vision (New York: Cornell University Press, 1967), p. 49. 19 Mackay, p. 155.

20 "Mass Media in Nigeria," Perspectives on Mass Media

Systems, p. 48.

21 Great Britain, Colonial Office, Colonial Report

3.22-_.33 (London: H.M.S.O., 1933), p. 20. Confusion, however, exists as to the true nature of the station. While 0.

S. Coker implied it was a broadcasting station, Colonial

Office records are written in such manner that one may also infer the station was a wired-wireless station. 22 Great Britain, Colonial Office, Sound and Television

Broadcasting in the Overseas Territories, Handbook (London:

Information Department, Colonial Office, 1964), p. 1. The

Plymouth Committee was delegated by the Colonial Office in

1936 to look into the possibilities of broadcasting in the colonies. 59

23 L. W. Turner and F. A. W. Byron, Broadcasting Survey of the British West African Colonies (London: The Crown

Agents, 1949), p. 1.

24 UNESCO, Press, Fl, Radio, V, 427. 25 Mackay, pp. 4, 11.

26 Ibid., pp. 6-7.

27 Turner and Byron, pp. 67, 68.

28 Mackay, p. 7. 29 Ibid., pp. 11, 13-14.

30 UNESCO, Press, Fim, Radio, V, 427. 31 Mackay, p. 13. 32 See Supra, Chapter II, p. 20.

33 Mackay, p. 15.

34 Ibid.

35 Ibid., pp. 56-57. 36 E. C. Milton, Survey of the Technical Development of the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (Lagos: Nigerian Broad- casting Service, 1955), p. 5.

37 See Supra, Chapter II, p. 20. 38 T. W. Chalmers, Five Years of Broadcasting _9(l-_9_6

(Lagos: Federal Information Service, n.d.), p. 13.

39 Mackay, p. 38 4o Ibid.

41 Ibid., p. 39 42 Ibid., p. 75. 60

1+3 British Broadcasting Corporation, Handbook, 196_4

(London: BBC, 1963), p. 155. Ibid., p. 75.

Mackay, pp. 70-71. +6 Personal observation 1960-1970. 47 Mackay, p. 49.

48 Ibid., p. 7. 19 Ibid., pp. 7, 153-154.

50 Ibid., p. 58. 51 Ibid., p. 69.

52 See Supra, Chapter II, p. 19.

53 Coker, p. 45.

54 Mackay, p. 154.

55 Ibid., p. 58. 56 Coker, p. 48.

57 Federal Nigeria, House of Representatives, Debates, The

Third Session, March - _ (Lagos: Federal Government

Printer, 1954), p. 595. BBC is a British government chartered organization and therefore a government broadcasting service.

But BBC enjoys complete autonomy in programming in that it decides its own programming policies and broadcasts what it sees fit. Burton Paulu, Radio and Television Broadcas on the

European Continent (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1967), p. 63. 58 Ibid. 61

59 Nigeria, Collated Laws of te Federation of Nigeria and Lagos, 133, no. 39 (1956), 2. 60 Mackay, p. 60. 61 Ibid.

62 Ibid., pp. 47, 61-62. 63 Ibid., pp. 60-61.

64 "Radio and TV Programmes," New Nigeria, 16 January

1970, p. 10. 65 Mackay, p. 60. 66 Nnamdi Azikiwe, "Origin of the Nigerian Civil War,"

Nigeria Roundup, I, no. 5 (1969), p. 10. 67 J. M. Frost, ed., World Radio-TV Handbook, 27th ed.

(Denmark: World Radio-TV, 1973), p. 126. 68 Ibid. CHAPTER IV

STRUCTURE OF BROADCASTING IN NIGERIA

In this chapter, the structures of the two main divisions

of Nigerian broadcasting are discussed, and two "typical

broadcast days" analyzed. The two divisions are the national

service (the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation [NBC]) and the

six regional/state broadcasting services. The discussion

includes explanation of legal and administrative structures, facilities, and sources of revenue of each division.

Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation

Legal Directives and Administrative Structure

The legal directive creating NBC is the 1956 Broadcasting

Ordinance. The ordinance stipulates that NBC be patterned

after the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), but does not dictate programming. The 1956 Ordinance includes a regu-

lations provision which placed NBC under regulation of the

Director of Posts and Telegraphs in Nigeria. The provision

states,

The corporation shall operate all broadcasting services provided by it in accordance with the terms, conditions and restrictions of a license or licenses granted under the Wireless Telegraph Ordinance, which the Director of Posts and Telegraphs is hereby authorized and required to grant.1

62 63

The relationship between the Director of Posts and Telegraphs and NBC roughly parallels that between the Federal Communica- tions Commission (FCC) and a local station in the United

States. One major difference, however, is that while the

FCC stipulates three-year license renewals, NBC's license is granted in perpetuity, provided NBC conforms with the conditions of the license set by the Posts and Telegraphs Depart- ment. 2 This does not mean the government censors or otherwise regulates news reported by NBC; NBC reports factual news as it sees fit. And since 1957, when NBC commenced operations, its license has ever been revoked.3

The ordinance also charges NBC to be national in scope, yet regional in representation. NBC is to provide service, that

when considered as a whole, reflects the unity of Nigeria as a Federation, and at the same time gives adequate expression to the culture, characteristics, affairs and opinions of the)4people of each region or part of the Federation.

In line with this federal/regional plan, the ordinance provides for a Board of Governors on the federal level and three regional boards to be responsible for overall policies.

However, since the regional services have seceded, the three regional boards have been abolished. Only the federal board is left to formulate policies and guidelines for NBC.5

During the colonial period, the Governor General appointed the Director General, who in turn appointed other officers of NBC.6 At present, the federal government appoints the Board

of Governors consisting of fourteen members. The board

appoints the Director General, who employs the Technical

Director and the Director of Programming, heads of NBC's

two main operating divisions.7 These two appointments are

subject to ratification by the Board of Governors. The

Technical Director employs all persons in the technical

section, and the Director of Programming employs all persons in

the programming section, including news. Sometimes appoint-

ments of higher offices in both technical and programming

departments warrant approval by the Director General, but

the appointment of personnel in the lower offices are usually

done without need for ratification from the Director General.8

NBC achieved full Nigerianization by 1964. E. V.

Badejo took over as first native Director General of the

corporation after Ian Mackay completed his term with NBC.

Currently about 415 native Nigerians are employed in the

services of NBC.9

Facilities

Before the regional governments seceded from NBC, the national service had four studios in Nigeria. One was in

Lagos, a second in Ibadan, capital city of the Western

Region; a third in Enugun, capital city of the Eastern

Region; and the fourth in Kaduna, capital city of the Nor-

thern Region.1 0 By October 1, 1960, the day Nigeria achieved 65 independence, the country contained twenty-seven transmitters with a total power of 141 kilowatts.1 ' But also by this time, both the Western and the Eastern Regions had seceded from NBC, each taking with it three transmitters and a studio building, a total of six (of the twenty-seven) transmitters, and two

(of the four) studios that had belonged to NBC. Further deci- mation occurred in 1962 when the Northern Region seceded from

NBC, taking with it three more transmitters and the studio in Kaduna.1 2

Now NBC had eighteen transmitters. One of these, however, was a seldom-used shortwave transmitter. Of the seventeen transmitters left, three were situated near the Lagos studio, and the remaining fourteen were distributed, network style, across the country. This is the situation today; NBC broadcasts from the single studio in Lagos, but also reaches the national Nigerian audience through its countrywide network of transmitters.1 3

Programming

The 1956 Broadcasting Ordinance says little concerning programming. Neither does the Postsand Telegraphs Department specify programming content in any detail. Thus, the 1937 recommendations of the Plymouth Committee are the only government programming guidelines formulated for Nigeria and theoretically are the pattern upon which NBC programming should be modeled. These 1937 recommendations suggested that 66

Nigerian broadcasting should include educational, public health, and agricultural programs.14 Although NBC does maintain extensive news programming, it broadcasts very little that could be classified as educational, public health, or agricultural in nature. Present NBC program policies seem to follow the 1951 statement of T. W. Chalmers, first Director

General of NBS, in which he said that though entertainment will "naturally" always be radio's biggest selling point to the public, NBS was to concentrate on three types of programming, "entertainment, news and information, each designed and presented to raise standards and appreciation.",l5 There- fore, the intent was that broadcasting play a dominant and vital role in spreading knowledge and understanding.1 6

News:--There is no national news agency in Nigeria.

NBC has to rely on United Press International and Reuters

Reports of Britain for international and some national news.1 7

But NBC does maintain a local news crew. Efficient reporting of locally gathered news, however, is hampered by transportation difficulties, and vital news is often unavoidably delayed.

NBC reporters donot have available to them fast and convenient transportation facilities--good roads, cheap flight rates, automobiles--taken for granted by North American and European reporters. NBC news teams must rely on vastly slower transportation than those available in developed nations.18 67

The politics of Nigeria are volatile and unstable. Per- haps because of this, NBC produces only "straight" news and does not editorialize. Even the slightest hint of editorial comment may lead to dissent among the tribes, since the political parties are tribal in structure.1 9 News gathered on

United Press International or Reuters Reports'wires is rewritten before broadcast over NBC. 2 0

The majority of Nigerians neither speak nor comprehend the English language. Yet, precisely because of this--so few people can use what has since become the national language--English language instruction is regarded as a necessity in all schooling above the primary level. Because of this, English is used throughout the NBC broadcast schedule.2 1

The first Ford Foundation grant to NBC stated that NBC "programs should primarily be designed to improve English language usage.??2 2

The major exception to this "all-English" language policy was news. News broadcasting in Nigeria began in

English, the language of the colonial power. But it was eventually realized that there was a definite need for vernacular broadcasts. By 1960, news was broadcast in a total of seventeen languages everday.23 Today news is broadcast every three hours, first in English, then in three native languages, a different set of native languages each time. Each news broadcast lasts five minutes, a total of twenty 68 minutes for the four repetitions.24 And even though the broadcasting of NBC news must undergo the tedious and time consuming task of preparation in eighteen languages, news has become "respected in Nigerian broadcasting and a model for Africa as a whole."2 5

Entertainment:--NBC broadcasts a variety of entertainment programming, but the type most often aired is music, both foreign and domestic. There are many types of native music, ranging from modern "highlife" or "juju music," sophisticated and using modern muscial instruments, to more traditional music, in which traditional and ancient muscial instruments are blended with native songs. NBC uses both tape and album versions of these native compositions. The foreign compositions heard on NBC range from "rock" and

"soul," with all variations within and between these two types, to "middle-of-the-road" and "country. 26

While NBC mixes native and foreign music indiscriminately, its comedy programs employ only native comedians. The assump- tion is that most Nigerians would not be able to comprehend foreign jokes. Another source of entertainment programs is stories written by native authors. Usually the author reads the fiction himself. For native comedies and narratives, NBC either broadcasts such programs "live" or from recordings especially prepared for NBC broadcasts. NBC uses commercially available tapes and albums for musical entertainment only.2 7 69

The Nigerian government does not provide any NBC programming, either entertainment or educational. Neither do

Nigerian institutions of higher learning provide any NBC programming. On a few occasions, however, NBC on its own volition will record for later broadcast special entertainment-oriented programs presented in government departments or schools.28

Other.--Other programs include sports and education.2 9

Nigeria maintains a national soccer team year-round, and soccer is the only game that NBC covers nationally. All

"home game" soccer matches between Nigeria and other countries get play-by-play coverage. If the Nigerian soccer team plays abroad, NBC broadcasts the result of the game during the news periods. Nigerians enjoy sports--as participants and spec- tators--so NBC reports all international athletic events during the news period, especially boxing and track events.

National athletic reports are also reported as news, provided there is time. Results of interscholastic athletic meets are reported in NBC news only if NBC is invited to the game and if there is time enough to report the results.3 0

Educational programs are not part of the day-to-day programming of NBC and are presented only infrequently.3 1 The

Director of Programming determines what kind of educational programs to offer the public. Such programs are broadcast an average of twice a week, and each is about thirty-minutes 70 long. The programs usually consist of lessons in English or foreign languages, such as French. The potential of educational programming via NBC would seem to be practically limitless. Yet little has been done. Education is one aspect of NBC programming for which there would seem to be need for great expansion.3 2

A Typical Broadcast Day NBC begins its broadcast day at 5:30 a.m. The transmitter "shuts-down" at 12:00 midnight. This gives Nigerian citizens eighteen and a half hours of daily programs. To illustrate a typical NBC broadcast day, Friday, January 16,

1970, has been chosen for analysis. The schedule for the day is depicted in Table I, and the following narrative describes the programming in some detail.3 3

"Drum Signal" serves a function similar to that of a

United States broadcaster's station identification.34

"Family Prayers" is a religious session conducted early in the morning for the benefit of Christian and Moslem populations of Nigeria residing in Lagos and its suburbs. "Bright and

Early" is usually a program of musical entertainment, featuring sentimental and light compositions performed by foreign musicians.

A disc jockey announces all recordings on all programs except "Music While You Work." The disc jockey restricts himself to announcement of the recordings; there are no 71

TABLE I

A TYPICAL BROADCAST DAY OF THE NIGERIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 1970*

Time* * Program

5:30 . . . . . Drum Signal 5:35 . . . . . Family Prayers 6:00 ...... News in Four Languages 6:20 ...... Bright and Early 7:00 . . . . . Music All the Way 8:00 ...... Enjoy Yourselves 8:30 ...... Piano Playtime 9:00 . . . . . News in Four Languages 9:20 . . . .0 . . Mid-Morning Music 10:00 . . . . Assalamu Alaikum 11:00 . . . . Jingle Hour 12:00 Noon. . . . News on the Hour 12:20 ...... Prelude to Jumat Service 1:00 ...... Jumat Service 2:00 . . . . . Music While You Work 3:00 . . . .0 . . Three O'clock News 3:20 . . . . . Music While You Work . Main Features 5:00 . . . Hot Spot 6:00 . . . Six O'clock News 6:20 . . . . . Hot Spot 7:00 . . . . . Hightime for Highlife 7:20 . . . . Hot Spot 8:00 . . . . . Women at the Top 9:00 . . . . . News in Four Languages 9:20 . . . . . Nigerian Rhythm 10:00 . . . . . Holy Koran 11:00 ...... Night Cap 11::45 ...... Midnight News 12:00 Midnight. . Close Down

*Source: "Radio and TV Programmes," New Nigeria, 16 January 1970, p. 10.

**The time indicated is Lagos time, six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. 72

extended disc jockey commentaries such as heard on United

States radio. The announcements are made between each record as the program continues.

"Music While You Work" is usually "rock" and "pop" music.

It is prerecorded and sounds much like many United States

"sweet music" FM stations. "Enjoy Yourselves" features re-

cordings by native musicians, and "Piano Playtime" offers

foreign compositions of classical masterpieces. "Mid-Morning

Music" provides a mixture of native and foreign music, and

"Assalamu Alaikum" provides a worship period for Moslems.

"Jingle Hour" broadcasts another musical program that features recordings of foreign and native artists, and "Prelude to

Jumat Service" features festive Moslem songs on Fridays.

"Jumat Service" is a service for Moslems that NBC broadcasts live from one of the Mosques in Lagos. On Sundays, NBC renders a similar service for Christians by broadcasting live from one of the cathedrals or churches in Lagos. On other weekdays, both religious time slots are filled with native and/or foreign musical entertainment programs. The three o'clock news is cancelled for religious programs on

Fridays (for Moslems) and on Sundays (for Christians).

"Main Features," a public interest program features

subjects of community interest, such as discussion of the lives of nomadic farmers or the care of children. Each "Main Feature" program focuses on a different, specific community asa case -study. 73

"Hot Spot" is a musical production featuring foreign

music, particularly "rock" and "soul." "Hightime for Highlife t

is another musical production of sentimental native music, and

"Women at the Top" is dedicated to feminine progress. On this

prerecorded program, leading Nigerian ladies, particularly those

in the business world, tell of opportunities open to women in Nigerian business.

"Nigerian Rhythm" is a musical production featuring re-

cordings of native artists. "Holy Bible" or "Holy Koran" is a

religious program. The former is aired for Christians on Sun-

days, and the latter is aired for Moslems on Fridays. On other weekdays, this time slot is filled with an entertainment pro-

gram, either comedy or musical.

"Night Cap" is a native comedy broadcast. In this pro-

gram, native artists tell jokes based on current affairs and

satirize Nigerian political and social life. The NBC transmitter shuts down at 12:00 midnight, immediately after 'Mid- night News" is aired.

Listenership

In Nigeria, listenership took three forms. One was individually-owned broadcast-receiving sets in homes. In

1960, it was estimated that 143,000 broadcast-receiver sets were present in Nigerian homes. An annual license fee of ten shillings ($1.50) was required by NBC. This fee was first collected by the Nigerian government through the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, and then reallocated to NBC. Many

broadcast-receiver owners found it very difficult to pay this

fee since most of them earned about fifteen pounds ($45) a year. The ten shillings annual license fee constituted 3.3 percent of their income.35 A second form of listenership

was subscription to a wired-wireless system. As previously

noted, about 74,000 people subscribed and perhaps six times as many actually listened to wired-wireless broadcasting.3 6

A third form of listenership involved collective listening--

sometimes called "group" or "community" listening.3 7

Generally, collective listening means that a receiver is put

into a village in the charge of a specific person, and the

villagers then listen together at certain times.38 Six sets

of collective-listening apparatus--a receiver and a loud-

speaker--were put into operation in the rural areas, but the

Post Office never planned on increasing the number of collec-

tive-listening centers. Too many staff members were needed to

operate the centers, and repairs were often difficult because

of a lack of skilled technical personnel.3 9 The population did not seem greatly interested in collective listening because of vast language differences within the national audience.

A group of Ibo tribesmen sitting as a collective audience

somewhere in the hinterland, for example, would probably have little interest in listening to a BBC news broadcast in English. 75

The number of broadcast receivers had grown from about

2,000 in 193940 to 143,000 in 1960.41 The last survey of set

ownership was conducted in 1960 by the British Royal Insti-

tute of International Affairs. Although the Nigerian

government has not felt it necessary to conduct a subsequent

survey, it is probable that the advent of cheap transistorized-

broadcast-receiver sets has increased the number of radios in

Nigeria by a considerable number.

Revenues

NBC, like the BBC, does not sell time,4 2 but relies

solely on annual license fees collected from owners of broad-

cast receivers. The government subsidizes the NBC budget in

that it pays the salaries of NBC personnel. License-fee

revenues are used for the development of NBC programming and facilities. Although NBC annual budgets are not generally

available to the public, it is known that NBC does not have a

fixed annual budget, i.e., a predetermined yearly appropria-

tion.4 3

Revenues from the sale of the Radio-Times goes to the

Daily Times of Nigeria, since its press prints the Radio Times.

Ultimately, however, those revenues revert to the nation's

general fund, since the Daily Times belongs to the government.44 76

The Regional/State Systems

WNBC is typical of the regional+ broadcasting systems

in Nigeria. It seceded from NBC in 1959 and was the first to

do so.46 At the time of its breakaway from NBC, it had three

transmitters that had previously belonged to NBC. Two of the transmitters were in the medium wave band. One was at Abafon, a small village near Lagos, and the other was at Ibadan. Each

had a power of ten kilowatts, and a service area with a radius

of approximately forty miles. The third transmitter operated

in the shortwave range. Situated at Ibadan, it had a power of

ten kilowatts and a 300-mile radius of coverage, but was seldom used.47

The other regional systems are similar to WNBC. All

three senior regional systems (WNBC, ENBS, NNBS) had a common origin in NBC. When they seceded, they took with them similar facilities. At present, there are six regional systems, the newer three having built their own studios and acquired their own transmitters. Yet in most other respects, these newer systems resemble the three older systems.

Since the regional broadcasting systems are not licensed, control and regulation take two forms. In some cases, the regional constitutions have provisions to control their broadcasting systems. In other cases, the regions preferred to set up corporations to direct their broadcasting; the Western

Region, for example, directs its broadcasting system through 77 a corporations 8 The regional systems seem to enjoy considerable freedom from control by the regional government

However, they do emphasize regionally-oriented programming that tends to promote ethnic loyalties to the detriment of a national consciousness; 5 0 this regional orientation, of course, is the very reason for their existence.

Each regional system derives revenues from three sources, license fees, regional government subsidies, and commercial advertisements.5 1 A regional license fee, similar to that charged by NBC, is levied on each broadcast-receiver owner in a region. This regional fee is collected by the regional government and then reallocated to the regional broadcasting system. Additionally, each regional government subsidizes its broadcasting system by paying the salaries of the employees and allocating funds for expansion projects. The regional systems have no fixed annual budget.5 2

The regional systems broadcast commercial announcements called "Personal Paid Announcements.??5 3 Local businessmen and women pay for time spent in advertising their goods and services. A group of commercials is aired in fifteen, twenty, or thirty minute slots spaced infrequently throughout the broadcast day. Advertisers buy in lengths of thirty seconds, one minute, or two minutes. But it is unusual to have a two-minute commercial advertisement. Sponsorship of programs by commercial companies is not practiced on WNBC, and commercial 78

announcements do not interrupt programs, nor are they aired

between programs

Programming

Each regional system broadcasts both in English and in

the native languages that predominate in the areas they serve.

WNBC broadcasts in three native languages: Yoruba, Hausa, and

Edo.5 5 The Mid-Western State Broadcasting Service broadcasts in five native Nigerian languages: Yoruba, Hausa, Ibo, Edo, and Urhobo. The North Central State Broadcasting Service, formerly NNBS, and the North Eastern State Programming Service broadcast in English and Hausa. The East Central State Broad- casting Service, formerly ENBS, broadcasts in English and Ibo.

The South Eastern State Programming Service broadcasts in

English and Urhobo languages.5 6 All native languages are used mainly in news broadcasts, but are also employed in a few other programs. All of the systems use English as the predominant language. 5 7

In addition to the United Press International and Reuters

Reports'wires, the regional systems have local news crews.

These people are responsible for coverage of regional news.

The regional systems will dispatch correspondents to cover specific stories in Lagos, but they do not maintain full-time bureaus there. WNBC, for example, depends on Reuters as the main source of foreign news and on its local staff for coverage of regional news. 5 3 79

The WNBC daily broadcast schedule is typical of those of

the other regional broadcasting systems. The only major difference between the form of programming of NBC and that of

WNBC is the airing of commercial announcements. While NBC refrains from selling time, in accord with the 1956 Ordinance,

WNBC derives considerable revenues from the sale of adver-

tisements.

A Typical Broadcast Da

To illustrate a typical regional or state system broadcast day, the WNBC schedule for Friday, January 16, 1970, has been chosen for analysis. The schedule for that day is depicted in Table II, and the following narrative describes the programming in some detail.

WNBC signs on with "Opening March." "Morning Prayers" is conducted by local clergy of Moslem and Christian faiths.5 9

This program is always prerecorded. "Breakfast Show" is a musical entertainment featuring recordings of foreign musi-

cians, and "African News" is concerned exclusively with

African: affairs. "BBC News" is relayed direct from London, and "Tops in Pops" is a musical entertainment featuring foreign popular music recordings. "Home News" is usually broadcast in

English.

"For You at Home" is a mail request program. Anyone may request a particular record to be "dedicated" to someone

else. If the particular record requested is not available, 80

TABLE II

A TYPICAL BROADCAST DAY OF WESTERN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT BROADCASTING CORPORATION, Friday, January 16, 1970*

Time** Program

5:30 ...... Opening March 5:35 ...... Morning Prayers 6:00 ...... 0.. . Breakfast Show 6:30 ...... African News 7:00 ...... BBC News Relay . Personal Paid Announcements 7:30 ...... Tops in Pops 8:00 ...... Home News 8:050 ...... 0.0. . Tops in Pops 9:00 ...... News in Three Languages 9:0150 ...... For You at Home 10:00 ...... Mid-Morning Show 11:00 ...... 0.. . Women's Half Hour 12:00 Noon...... 11:30 ...... Mid-Morning Show 12:00 Noon...... Music While You Work 1 : 0 ...... WNBC News 1:10 ...... 0..0 Music While You Work 2:00 ...... BBC News Relay . Music While You Work 3:00 ...... WNBC on the Move 4:10 ...... *.o. Personal Paid Announcements 5:006:30 ...... WNBC on the Move 6:00 ...... 0.. . African News 6 :10 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 . Personal Paid Announcements 6:30 ...... Music from Congo 7 :00 . . .- .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 BBC News Relay 71:10 ...... Listener's Choice 8:00 Midnigh...... News in Three Languages 8 : *15ource. .. R.a.d. . The World Tomorrow 9:00y. 0.. .0.. . World News 9:30 . 0. 0. . .0 . . . . Iku-Oyenmwen 10:30 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 Concert Platform 11:55 .0.0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 News Summary 12:00 Midnight.,.0.0.0 National Anthem

*Source: "Radiio and TV Programmes,N" _New Nigeria, 16 January,,,1970, P. 10. **The time indicated is Lagos time, six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. 81

the disc jockey makes a substitution based on his own judg- ment. There is no fee charged for this request service, but

it is done on a "first-come, first-served" basis.

"Mid-Morning Show" is a musical program featuring native

and foreign recordings, and "Women's Half Hour" is a public

interest program consisting of discussion and debates by lead-

ing Nigerian women on matters such as women's rights, abortion, and personal hygiene. "Music While You Work" is light, sentimental,native and foreign recorded music, similar to NBC's program of the same name.

"WNBC on the Move" is a musical entertainment featuring recordings of native artists, and "Music from Congo" is another musical entertainment featuring exclusively Congolese record-

ings. "Listener's Choice" is a musical request program, and

"The World Tomorrow" is a religious program of America's

Ambassador College featuring Garner Ted Armstrong. "World

News" is collected over the United Press International and

Reuter Reports' wires and rewritten for broadcast.

"Iku-Oyenmwen" meaning "Death or Something Else," is a

local comedy program. In this program, local proverbs and native idioms are woven into humorous narratives by local

talent. "Concert Platform" is a native musical entertainment

program. WNBC closes down at twelve midnight, after the

"National Anthem" is aired. 82

The local request programs and the comedies are usually

done in the Yoruba language, which is predominant among the

tribes of Western Region. The musical requests also are usually by and for people who live within the region. With minor variations, the formats of the other regional or state

broadcasting systems' programming are similar to that of WNBC. FOOTNOTES

1 Nigeria, The Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation Ordin- ance, sec. 27 (39), 1956. 2 0. S. Coker, "Mass Media in Nigeria," Perspectives on

Mass Media Systems: India, Japan, Nigeria, USSR, Worldvision, ed., Royall D. Colie (New York: Cornell University Press, 1967), p. 48.

3 Coker, p. 51.

4 Nigeria, The Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation Ordin- ance, Part B, sec. 10 (3), 1956.

5 Coker, p. 49. 6 Great Britain, Colonial Office, Colonial Report 132-

23,3. (London: H.M.S.O., 1933), p. 20. 7 Coker, p. 50. 8 Ibid., pp. 51-52.

9 Ian K. Mackay, Broadcasting in Nigeria (Ibadan: Ox- ford University Press, 1964), p. 54. 10 Coker, p. 48.

11 UNESCO, Statistics on Radio and Television _9_O-_96_

(Statistics Report and Studies, Paris: UNESCO, 1963), p. 38. 12 Ibid. It is not known whether or not the regional governments compensated the NBC for the facilities they

"appropriated."

83 84

13 Coker, p. 51.

14 Great Britain, Colonial Office, Interim Report of a

Committee on Broadcasting Services in the Colonies and Broad- casting Services in the Colonies . . . (Colonial No. 139,

Sec. 14; London: Colonial Office, 1937). 15 Mackay, p. 32.

16 Nigeria, Collated Laws of the Federation of Nigeria and Lagos, 133, No. 39 (1956).

17 Coker, p. 52.

18 John N. Paden and Edward W. Soja, The African Exper- ience, II (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1970), pp. 185-188.

19 Coker, p. 51 20 Ibid., p. 52.

21 Great Britain, Colonial Office, The Place of Ver- nacular in Native Education (African, No. 1110; London: H.M.S.O., 1927), p. 4. 22 Mackay, p. 81.

23 Ibid. Fridays and Sundays are the exceptions. Friday is the day of worship for Moslems, and Sunday is the day of worship for Christians. On both days, the NBC schedule is slight- ly changed to include less news broadcast and more religious broadcast. 24 Coker, p. 49.

25 Mackay, p. 36.

26 Personal Observation of NBC, 1960-1970. 85

27 Ibid.

28 Ibid.

29 "Radio and TV Programmes," N Nigeria, 16 January

1970, p. 10.

30 Personal Observations of NBC, 1960-1970. 31 "Radio and TV Programmes," p. 10.

32 Personal Observation of NBC, 1960-1970.

33 "Radio and TV Programmes," p. 10.

UNESCO, Statistics on Radio and Television, p. 50.

35 Mackay, pp. 7-8.

36 Ibid., p. 5. 37 J. Williams Grenfell, "Radio in Fundamental Education in Underdeveloped Areas," Press, _ilm and Radio in the World

Today (Paris: UNESCO, 1950), p. 138.

38 Ibid., p. 139.

39 Ibid.

4o Mackay, p. 3. 41 Royal Institute of International Affairs, Nigeria:

The Political and Economic Development (London: R.I.I.A., 1960), p. 120.

42 "Radio and TV Programmes," p. 10.

Personal Observation of NBC, 1960-1970.

Personal Observation of Radio Times, 1960-1970.

The words "regional" and "states" will be used inter- changeably. In 1967, after the country was divided, the three regions became twelve states. But both regional and states 86 broadcasting systems are the same. See Supra, Chapter II, p. 33. 46 Mackay, p. 60.

7 Annual Report and Accounts .196-68of Western Nigeria Government Broadcasting Corporation (Ibadan: The Caxton Press, 1968), p. 10. 48 Annual Report and Accounts 196__68, p. 9. 9 Coker, p. 50.

50 See supra, Chapter III, p. 22.

51 Annual Report and Accounts 162-1_ pp. 27-29. 52 Ibid., pp. 23-25.

53 ",Radio and TV Programmes," p. 10. 54 Personal Observation of NBC,,, 1960-1970. 55 "Radio and TV Programmes,f" p. 10. 56 j. M. Frost, ed., World Radio-TV Handbook, 27th ed., (Denmark: World Radio-TV, 1973), p. 136. 57 Ibid.

58 Annual Report and Accounts 1969-1970, p. 20. 59 Annual Report and Accounts 1967-68, p. 10. CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In this chapter, research from the previous chapters is

summarized, and a number of conclusions are drawn. The

chapter is divided into two main parts. The first part is

the summary, the second part, the conclusions.

Summary

In this section, research from the preceding chapters

is pulled together and cross-compared to isolate the factors

that have shaped Nigerian broadcasting. Specifically, first

the present structure of Nigerian broadcasting is summarized from Chapter IV. Then information is drawn from Chapter II, the history of Nigeria, and Chapter III, the history of

Nigerian broadcasting, to explain why Nigerian broadcasting is

structured as it is. Each "part" of the Nigerian broadcasting structure is examined individually to explain what specific historical factors contributed to the shaping of that part.

Summary Description of Nigerian Broadcasting

The present Nigerian broadcasting structure can best be described as two tiered. On one level is the Nigerian Broad-

casting Corporation (NBC), on the other, the regional

87 88

broadcasting systems. NBC was created by the 1956 Ordinance.

The regional broadcasting systems were made possible by the

provision included in the 1954 constitution that guaranteed

regional autonomy in Nigerian broadcasting and were created by regional legislation.

NBC resembles its model, the British Broadcasting Corpor-

ation (BBC), in many ways. Similar to BBC, NBC is licensed

by the Posts and Telegraphs Department. NBC has a Board of

Governors that makes policy and a Director General who, as operating head of the corporation, carries out policy. And

in the tradition of the BBC, although a government chartered

corporation, NBC seems to enjoy freedom from overt government

control of programming. The regional systems are administered

either directly as agencies of the regional governments, or indirectly, as corporations chartered by the regional governments. They, too, seem to be free of government program control. However, programming at both levels is restricted ly definition; NBC must program for the Federation of Nigeria, the regional systems for the individual states that make up the Federation.

So, programming of NBC is designed to be national and nonpartisan (relative to the states). NBC's programming is noncommercial and consists primarily of entertainment, news, and information. All programming is broadcast in English; additionally, the news is repeated in a number of tribal 89

languages. Programming of the regional systems resembles that

of NBC, but regional systems concentrate on providing news and

information pertinent to their respective coverage areas and

to the tribal interests that predominate in those areas.

Most regional programming is broadcast in English, but re-

gional languages are used in repetitions of news broadcasts

and in some other programming. The regional systems accept advertising.

NBC has two sources of revenue. The major source of revenue is derived from license fees paid by owners of broad-

cast receivers. License-fee revenues provide funds for

operation and expansion. The second source of revenue is from the federal government and is restricted to payment of

NBC personnel salaries. The regional systems have three

sources of revenue--license fees, commercial advertisements, and regional government subsidies. The regional government

subsidies help underwrite operation and expansion costs, as well as salaries.

Factors in the Development of Nigerian Broadcasting That Nigeria has a national radio service is a direct result of recommendations of the 1937 Plymouth Committee, of a 1949 report by a BBC team that surveyed broadcasting in

West Africa, and of the British Parliament's passage of the

Colonial Development and Welfare (CD&W) Acts. The 1937 report 90 said the African colonies needed broadcasting; the 1949 report said broadcasting facilities needed to be upgraded, and the CD&W Acts provided much of the money to build the system. Naturally, the service would be national and noncommercial. Nigeria was a British crown colony and the

British radio system was national and noncommercial; so, the

British used the BBC--the radio service it knew best--as the model for the Nigerian radio service. Besides, the radio distribution services, many financed by private British capital, were already commercial by 1952; to create a commercial broadcasting system would have drawn some of the advertising revenus away from the distribution services.

That the national service is now NBC, a government- chartered corporation, and not NBS, a government-operated service, can be traced to a 1953 speech by Governor General

Macpherson, the resulting clamor raised by press and public, and the passage of the 1956 Broadcasting Ordinance. NBS broadcast Macpherson's speech, and in it, he criticized activities of the Western Region's political party, the

Action Group (AG). AG leadership was denied reply time.

Press and public raised a clamor and said the NBS was a tool of the federal administration (which, in turn, was dominated by one tribe and thus one of the regions). The press further urged that broadcasting be left to the regions. Finally, in

1956, in an effort to stop press criticism, the federal 91 government introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to convert NBS to NBC, an organization whose structure and

(hopefully) traditions would emulate those of the BBC. In

1956, the bill was passed, and NBS became NBC.

The present Nigerian broadcasting structure is a two- tiered affair because of four factors: long-standing tribal animosities, the political policy of a British colonial administration, the historical development of constitutionally guaranteed regional power, and the provision on broadcasting included in the 1954 constitution. The Richards' constitution of 1945 was Nigeria's first constitution. It guaranteed autonomy for the regions, and hence, gave the regions political powers equal to those of the federal government. The result was a confederation, and the regional governments, acting in their own interests, prevented the federal government from acting as effectively as it could in the national interest. Tribal/political relationships among the regions of Nigeria were already delicate and volatile, a direct result of Britain's throwing together unrelated tribes into a single colony. Because of these volatile relationships, Richards was able to play one region against the other in an attempt to protect British interests in Nigeria. Richards' policy of "Divide and Rule" amplified dissent and animosity among the tribes and the regions of Nigeria. By 1952, the tradition- based and politically-sanctioned distrust by the regional 92 governments of each other and of the federal government had become indelibly woven into the fabric of Nigerian political life. When, in 1952, the Macpherson constitution was drawn up, it also included a provision for regional autonomy. This widened the gulf between the regions. Macpherson created powerful regional assemblies in an attempt to alleviate the animosity among the regions. But the assemblies served only to increase animosity. Since both previous constitutions had included provisions for regional autonomy, a similar provision had to be included in the 1954 constitution. By this time, broadcasting had been introduced in Nigeria, and the regions, jealous of their own power and suspicious of anything that seemed to give advantage to the federal government, demanded a say in the control of broadcasting. They got a constitutional provision that guaranteed them negative control. There would be a single, national broadcasting system in Nigeria only as long as the regional governments consented. If they became dissatisfied with the national system, they could launch their own systems. In 1959, the regional governments decided to withdraw consent to the single NBC. And beginning with the Western Region that year, the regional governments began to inaugurate their own broadcasting systems. As a result, there are presently in Nigeria seven broadcasting services--one by the federal government to serve the entire federation and six by the regional 93

governments to serve their respective constituencies--to serve the people.

A large part of the design and operation of NBC results

from Nigeria's having been a crown colony and thus having

used the BBC as a model. NBC's license relationship with the

Posts and Telegraphs Department, NBC's national Board of

Governors, its Director General, its relative freedom from

government control, its programming concepts, its dependence

on receiver-license revenues for funding, all can be traced

to NBC having been modeled after the BBC. Nigeria was

a British colony, heavily influenced by British social and

political institutions, and the colony's first radio service

was set up and operated by BBC employees. There was little

chance that Nigeria's national radio could be anything but an

African version of the BBC. Subsequent developments have

served to strengthen some of its BBC-like characteristics.

The 1953 Macpherson speech touched off demands for changes in

the service; the result was the creation of NBC and the rela-

tive insulation of programming from government control. And

in an effort to avoid regional jealousies, NBC news and in-

formation is scrupulously nonpartisan where the regions are

concerned, avoiding editorial comment just as does BBC.

The aspects in which NBC differs from the BBC result from NBC being in Nigeria. NBC's programming is not nearly as varied and elaborate in conception as is that of the BBC. 94

The lower than Britain Nigerian per capita income means there

is less money in Nigeria than in Britain, so while NBC and the

BBC both depend on receiver-license fees for revenues, the

Nigerian system receives far less than the British. Conse-

quently, the Nigerian system has more limited facilities, personnel, and programming than its British model.

NBC broadcasts primarily in English, and this certainly

is due to Nigeria's British colonial past. Yet, paradoxically,

the use of English rather than a native language is also

peculiarly Nigerian. Nigeria, as a political unit, was

created when the British amalgamated contiguous land areas

on which resided a group of unrelated and often hostile native tribes. Each tribe spoke a different language, and no

language predominated. As Nigeria developed through colonial

status on its way to nationhood, it became obvious that one

language would have to be selected as the national language.

Tribal jealousies ruled out the use of one of the three major

indigenous languages; if one tribal language were chosen, the other two tribes would be angered. So the language of

the colonial power was adopted as a compromise. NBC, then, broadcasts primarily in the English language because that is

the national language and because there is a conscious na-

tional effort to educate all Nigerians in the use of English.

And English is the national language, of course, almost by default, as a neutral compromise. But the NBC also repeats 95

its news broadcasts in native languages. The rationale for

these non-English repetitions is that large numbers of Ni-

gerians are still not able to understand English well, and

the goal of an informed citizenry supercedes that of all-

English radio programming.

The regional systems resemble NBC in many ways. The

first three regional systems were originally a part of the

national system, and so they naturally share a common BBC

heritage with NBC. The newer systems were, in turn, influ-

enced by the first three regional systems and the national

system. So the regional systems broadcast primarily in

English, are fairly free of government control, use program

formats similar to those of NBC, and depend on receiver-

license revenues. But there are important differences between

the regional systems and NBC. These differences include

emphasis on regional and tribal news and information, wide use

of native languages, broadcast of advertising messages, and

direct government subsidization of maintenance, operation,

and capital-outlay costs. The regional systems were begun

because the regional governments were dissatisfied with the national service for not emphasizing the regions enough in

its programming. As a result, regional systems were set up

to emphasize and recognize regional and tribal differences.

Therefore, the regional systems' programming is aimed at tribal and regional interests. English is used extensively 96

in the regional systems' programming because within each re-

gion many people speak languages other than the predominant

native language. Therefore, there is still a need within

the regions for a "common language." But news and other pro-

grams are broadcast in the native languages that predominate

in the respective regions. This helps satisfy the regional

governments' desire for regional/tribal-specific programming.

The license-fee revenues of the regional systems are not as

broadly based as NBC license-fee revenues. The regional

systems can "tax" radio receivers only within their own re-

gions, so license fees within any region are not nearly as

large as those from all regions. The regional governments

feel responsible for providing funds to support their re-

gional systems, so they appropriate additional money to underwrite expenses and expansion, as well as to pay salaries.

Additionally, the regional governments allow their broadcast-

ing systems to accept advertising. This commercialism results from the 1952 RDS/NBS crisis. The British-owned radio dis-

tribution services (RDS) were commercial by 1952, while the

colonial government set up NBS to be noncommercial. Regional political leaders felt this was exploitation of local revenues

and added fuel to the fire of their arguments for regional broadcasting autonomy in 1954. So in 1959, when the regional

systems commenced broadcasting operations, they included advertising in their programming. 97

Conclusions

The foregoing leads almost inevitably to two basic con-

clusions. The first is that the "case of Nigerian radio" has

illustrated the "wrongness" of colonialism, no matter how

well-intentioned it might be. Second, Nigerian radio also

illustrates just how closely an institution within a society

reflects and is a product of that society.

Except as an intellectual exercise (and a rather sterile

one, at that), there is little use in playing the "what if"

game with history,-- "What if" Napoleon had succeeded in

Russia. "What if" Japan had not attacked Pearl Habor. "What

if" Hitler had been satisfied with France. "What if" the South

had won the American Civil War--and so on and on. Yet, in the

instant case, the thought cannot help but arise, "What if

Great Britain--or any other European power--had stayed out of

Africa, especially Nigeria? That is, how would Nigeria have

developed on her own? Any answer, as suggested, would be useless speculation. But the question itself does serve to point up that Great Britain did go into Africa, one result of which was the amalgamation of some 300 different peoples

into a political entity now called Nigeria. Certainly there were humanitarian motives in much of Britain's actions in

Africa, but its primary motive--as is that of any colonial power--was the economic betterment of the "home country," the

British Isles. And the means Britain used to achieve this aim were not always the best for Nigeria. 98

In the process of amalgamation, Britain put together the

300 tribes, including three large, powerful tribes. These tribes had little in common; most had their own language.

Many were actually suspicious of or even overtly hostile to neighboring tribes. In short, those tribes were about as ready to be amalgamated into a single political entity as were Britain, France, and Germany. And many of the Nigerian tribes had even less in common--culturally or otherwise-- than did the European countries. The amalgamation itself was primarily for commercial reasons, beneficial to British traders. Yet, in order to further British economic interests, the colonial government "played off" the various tribes and regions against each other. Additionally, the British were busy inculcating the growing body of native elites with British cultural and political traditions. Few stopped to ask whether the traditions of an industrial society on the banks of the Thames were appropriate for a tribal society on the banks of the Niger.

At this point, the situation depicted is one of a group of unrelated African tribes, put together as a political entity, their animosities enhanced, saddled with advanced foreign political and social trappings, and finally given

English as a "national" language. To some, modern Nigeria seems a bit schizophrenic; few countries have greater reason to be that way. This is not to say that Nigeria--or whatever 99 that section of Africa would now be called if the European powers had not intervened--would be any better off had the tribes developed into nationhood on their own. But at least the mistakes they made would be their own, caused by the normal conflicts among homegrown, native institutions, and not be attempts to work within a framework of institutions superimposed from elsewhere, institutions perhaps not appropriate to the native psychology.

Finally, on top of all this is superimposed a broadcasting system. And once again, appropriate or not, the model is British. But it soon became obvious that what the British had done--both in designing a nation and in setting up a radio system--was not appropriate. The nation has had un- rest and civil war; it has gone from three regions to twelve states. The radio system has splintered into six additional regional or state systems.

The problems of the radio systems--language, national versus regional emphasis, etc.--derive directly from the problems inherent in the nation itself. In most cases, they are not the "fault" of NBC, WNBC, or any other radio systems.

They exist because of, and sprang from, the unfortunate aspects of Nigeria's colonial history. As such, there is little that can be done within the existing radio broadcasting structure to "correct" the problems within that structure, much less to "cure" some of Nigeria's greater problems of national identity. 100

Certainly some obvious recommendations could be made, particularly in the area of education and finance. Tele- vision has not yet penetrated into the life of the average

Nigerian; radio--cheap, reliable, ubiquitous--provides a primary information medium. And Nigeria, being a developing nation, would seem to need as one of its basic goals the education of its people. Certainly the "Nigerian-in-the- street" could probably benefit from information on the

"basics"--san.itation, personal hygiene, reading and writing, crop rotation, birth control, etc.--yet radio, seemingly the ideal medium for disseminating such information, is little used for education. Additionally, the finances of the various systems need to be overhauled. A first-class radio set-up, especially one on which a nation depends, needs money in much larger amounts than NBC or any of the regional systems now get. One solution might be the commercialization of

NBC, yet that has dangers inherent that could actually hurt both educational radio efforts and the ideal of keeping

Nigerian radio Nigerian. Suffice it to say that two rather obvious areas in need of immediate improvement are educational programming and financial support.

Regretably, however, other problems of Nigerian radio do not lend themselves to definition, much less solution.

They are rooted in the very fabric of the nation, and to make effective changes in the radio system, one would have to make 101 changes in the nation itself. That being the case, only one prediction can be validly made: the future of Nigerian radio is tied directly to the future of Nigeria itself. If Nigeria survives as a nation, the very forces that help it survive will also affect its broadcasting structure. The alternative would be a tragedy for the nation and for its radio system. FOOTNOTE

Herbert I. Schiller, Mass Communcations and American

Eni1re (New York: Augustus M. Kelley Publishers, 1969), pp. 106-107.

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